According to data from the Mancomunidad de Canales del Taibilla (MCT) for the current hydrological year, 43% of the water that flows from the tap in 35 municipalities in the south and centre of the province, including Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja, and Orihuela, has already been desalinated. The contribution of water from the transfer has been reduced to 36% of the total.
Despite the fact that the structural water deficit in the district has not recovered during this historic hydrological year in terms of rainfall in the rest of the country and has overwhelmed the other river basins, the Segura River basin’s own water resources barely exceed 20% of the total. Nevertheless, they remain highly significant.
The Commonwealth supplies 80 municipalities, including 35 in the province of Alicante. The main municipalities of the province are located in the centre and south of the Alicante territory. These municipalities include the city of Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja, Orihuela, San Vicente del Raspeig, Santa Pola, Crevillent, Almoradí, Guardamar del Segura, Pilar de la Horadada, Rojales, and Callosa de Segura.
The remaining municipalities in the Vega Baja—more than twenty—and two in the Medio Vinalopó region—Aspe and Hondón de las Nieves—join them. A total of over one million residents.
Hydrological year
This year, 169 hectometres of potable water were requested by 80 municipalities, including all those in the Region of Murcia, some in Almería and Albacete, and those in Alicante, between October 2024, the start of the hydrological year, and June of this year. This represents a 3.5% increase from the same period in the previous year.
Data from the Mancomunidad (Regional Community of San Juan de la Laguna) from a decade ago indicated that the proportion of water from the Tagus transfer, 30% for desalinated water, and 25% for the Segura basin’s own resources, via the Taibilla, a tributary of the Segura in Albacete, remained at just over 40%.
In recent years, the equality between water resources from the transfer and desalination has progressively eroded. Consequently, the 2021 balance sheet maintained the inverse proportion to the current one: 44.7% of the water was sourced from the Tajo-Segura transfer, 32.1% from saline desalination, and 23.2% from the Taibilla River.
Desalination facilities are located in Murcia and Alicante
The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MCT) has been operating desalination plants since the early 2000s, which has contributed to the change in trend. Additionally, the state-owned company Acuamed, which incorporates 13% of the desalinated water supplied to the entity dependent on the Ministry for Ecological Transition (Miteco), has played a role.
Desalination facilities of the Community are located in Alicante (Agua Amarga), San Pedro del Pinatar, Valdelentisco, and Águilas. All are connected by extensive underground collectors, water treatment facilities, and specialised storage areas.
Consequently, the desalinated water that runs through the faucet in Alicante or Almoradí may not have been produced in the province of Alicante.
In addition to the desalination facilities, the resources from the water transfer and the Segura basin with the Taibilla River are also involved in this interconnection with the grid.
In communities that are part of the MCT, it is exceedingly challenging to establish a singular source of tap water. Typically, a glass will contain a blend of all three sources.
Rate that has been frozen
The cost of producing one cubic metre of desalinated water is approximately one euro, contingent upon energy pricing. In spite of the source of the water it distributes, the Taibilla Canal Association has maintained the water tariff for municipalities at €0.69 since 2015. Despite the fact that it is evidently producing at a loss in the case of desalinated water, it maintains that it will not alter this tariff until at least 2027.
The MCT, which is the agency that municipalities typically attribute for increases when justifying their decisions, will not be the determining factor in any changes to water prices in these municipalities; rather, it will be the concessionaires.
| Origin | Volume hydrological year 24-25 | % |
|---|---|---|
| Taibilla River | 32,79 hm³ | 20,15 % |
| Transfer | 59,78 hm³ | 36,74 % |
| MCT Desalination | 48,65 hm³ | 29,90 % |
| Acuamed Desalination | 21,32 hm³ | 13,10 % |
| Other waters | 0,15 hm³ | 0,09 % |
| Total | 162,69 hm³ | 100 % |
The Mancomunidad is constructing solar plants at its largest desalination facilities to offset these expenses. Electricity expenses account for approximately 60% of the total cost of a desalinated cubic metre of seawater.
The energy necessary to perform the reverse osmosis process, which filters water at the molecular level using membranes. This pertains to the project that is about to commence construction at the Agua Amarga desalination plant, which is situated on the southern access road to Alicante. The project will encompass nearly four hectares of land surrounding the desalination plant, which is situated at the juncture of the N-332 and Urbanova highways.
Marina Baixa and Benidorm, which are not included in the MCT, also receive desalinated water for summer relief from the Mutxamel desalination plant. However, the amount of water is significantly lower and is obtained through an extraordinary agreement with Acuamed, the state corporation responsible for the plant.
The exploitation of groundwater bodies with wells and the reserves of the Amadorio, Beniarrés, and Guadalest reservoirs is the primary source of potable water for the province of Alicante, which is not a member of the MCT. Elda, Petrer, and Novelda, villages that are supplied by overexploited wells, are located in the Medio Vinalopó region. The same is true for the Alto Vinalopó region, the Marina Baixa region, Alcoy, La Foia, El Comtat, and the Marina Alta region. In the latter region, small desalination facilities are in operation to provide water to coastal regions.
The Vistabella second storage tank project is rescued by the MCT
The initiative to construct a second Vistabella water storage reservoir in Jacarilla has been revived by the Taibilla Canal Association (Mancomunidad de Canales del Taibilla). Project commencement occurred in 2020; however, it has been suspended since then. It is a semi-buried reservoir situated adjacent to the current one and has an identical capacity. It is situated in the Benejúzar mountain range to capitalise on gravity-fed water delivery. The MCT intends to finance it using ERDF funds from the European Union.
The concept is that the drinking water management entity should have a backup plan in place to address peak demand or breakdowns when storing desalinated water from Torrevieja and other desalination plants, such as San Pedro. Currently, nearly 100% of the desalination from the Torrevieja plant, which produces 83 cubic hectometres per year, is utilised to irrigate intensive agriculture in the communities of the Tajo-Segura transfer.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport and Water (MCT) approved an investment of €9,017,431.54 (VAT included) at the end of July for the rehabilitation of the decanting tanks at the La Pedrera DWTP, the largest in its network. This facility ensures the supply of the entire Vega Baja region and a portion of the city of Murcia. The objective of the project is to restore the water treatment capacity of the facility, which was commissioned in 1980, within a 30-month completion period.
The project will concentrate on the restoration of the decanters’ watertightness and appropriate structural functionality.
Author: Derek Appleton
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