Drought in 2022 is causing problems for everyone
Long dry summer and so far the drought continues
The summer has been long and hot in Andalucia. Normally, you can expect rain to start falling about the second week in September; usually for somebody’s Fiesta! So far, this September, we have had a few hours of thunderstorms and showers; nothing more!
I live to the north of Nerja, about an hour away. The village of Villanueva del Trabuco is 4KM from my rural house.
Drought is more than a problem for my friends and neighbours as they are mostly farmers, farm workers and businesses associated with food production. No rain means the olives will be small this year.
“Olive trees are very resistant to water scarcity,” said Juan Carlos Hervas, an expert with the COAG farmers’ union.
But when droughts become extreme, the trees “activate mechanisms to protect themselves. They don’t die but no longer produce anything,” Article of interest link
Even when it does rain, it has to be the right type of rain; does this sound silly? I will explain: If the rain comes down in torrents, it washes soil away and runs off into the low areas. It does not sink into the hard ground. This causes flooding in some areas and erosion in others. A slow, long spell of rain is better as it sinks into the earth slowly.
If it doesn’t rain in September or October, this plays havoc with the olive harvesting. You cannot pick olives in the rain or when the ground is waterlogged. It is dangerous, extra-hard work as the nets get soaking wet and covered in mud. I have worked on the olives for my nieghbourneighbour; believe me, it is hard work, even under perfect conditions.
There is an excellent article in the Sur in English. The Andalucia regional government are asking the EU for financial support due to the effects of the drought. Check out this article.
Andalucia seeks European Union’s help with the water shortage
On the second day of his two-day visit to Brussels, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, said on Tuesday that the present drought in the region is a serious threat to the economy and major investment is needed to provide adequate infrastructure.
He explained that works costing one billion euros are already underway and another four billion euros of investment will be needed, so he called for specific plans to be drawn up by the government in Madrid to finance these projects in southern Spain and for the EU’s Next Generation funds to be reprogrammed to cover not only environmental and energy efficiency projects but also to solve the water problem. See more
So far, my weather forecasting app has warned of rain several times this week but, none came. There was some thunder and a rather pathetic rainbow.
Dry weather is wonderful for tourists but, everybody needs water.