BARCELONA, Spain (AP) 鈥 The European Union has warned Spain that it won鈥檛 tolerate renewed plans by regional politicians in the country鈥檚 south to expand irrigation near the prized Do帽ana wetlands, which scientists and ecologists say are in danger of drying up.
In a letter seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday, Florika Fink-Hooijer, the head of the EU鈥檚 Directorate General for the Environment, told Spain鈥檚 government that it is 鈥渘ecessary to immediately ensure the strict protection of Do帽ana鈥檚 exceptional natural treasures, especially taking into account that rainfall is increasingly scarce due to climate change.鈥
The Do帽ana wetlands are a UNESCO world heritage site and considered one of Europe鈥檚 key biospheres. Sitting on an estuary where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean, their 74,000 hectares (182,000 acres) are a wintering site for a half-million waterfowl and a stopover spot for millions of other birds that migrate from Africa to northern Europe.
But the park鈥檚 lagoons and marshes are shrinking under pressure from local farmers, some of whom use illegal wells to tap its underlying aquifer. The situation has worsened because of a drought during a record-hot 2022 for Spain.
The conservative Popular Party that governs southern Andalusia, however, is again pushing forward a proposed law that would rezone more farmland near the park as irrigable. This comes a year after the party had shelved a similar initiative. Now they have it back on the agenda before municipal elections across Spain on May 28.
The European Court of Justice condemned Spain for neglecting the wetlands in 2021. That was followed by a first letter from Fink-Hooijer urging Spain to take action. The central government responded with a plan to speed up the closing of illegal wells near the park, a plan to reroute surface water from a nearby river basin, and by pledging 350 million euros ($377 million) to protect the reserve.
Fink-Hooijer warned in her second letter sent on Monday that Spain could face a fine this time if authorities continue to fail in their duty to safeguard Do帽ana.
Regional authorities for Andalusia who want to expand the irrigable lands say that the water for the 650 farmer they estimate would benefit from the plan would come from surface water, instead of wells.
However, other local farmers who legally use wells in the area have argued that any new water being piped into the area should go to them so that they can stop using wells, and thus help restore the aquifer.
The WWF said in a statement issued Tuesday that the water authorities 鈥渄o not foresee any increase of available water鈥 in the area.
鈥淚t is urgent and necessary to adopt measures to reduce the consumption of water and revert the poor status of the aquifer,鈥 the environmental group said.
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