Tenerife will be second Spanish region to declare water emergency

The extraordinary state will be announced on 1 March following a very dry winter on the island

Tenerife will be the second Spanish region, after Catalonia, to declare a water emergency this year following what has been described as “one of the driest winters in recent history” on the Canary island.

The president of the island’s government (the Cabildo), Rosa Dávila, stated that the measure was necessitated to ensure continuous water supply for the civil population and for the agricultural sector.

The official declaration and specific measures that will be undertaken will be declared after the state of water emergency has been approved by the local plenary on Friday, 1 March.

Critical water scarcity in Tenerife

Tenerife has been blessed with a year-round mild climate and a variety of biomes and landscapes. It is also one of the more verdant islands in the Canary archipelago with the winters considered the rainy season. That’s when the local farmers count on the reservoirs to get relatively filled up with the precious resource.

This past January though recorded average temperatures of almost 21C, making it the hottest in the past 60 years on the island. And the result was visible in the water reservoirs which were only filled at a third of their capacity.

The drought has especially affected the Tenerife midlands, where meteorological stations detected a decrease in rainfall between 15 and 40% and an increase in evaporation rates of between 10 and 25%, which can be linked to the increased temperatures.

The technical data also point to a critical risk of water shortages in the coming months, which necessitates immediate action through quick administrative responses.

Meanwhile, there’s also an indication that Andalucia, the south of continental Spain, is also planning to restrict water use in its major cities this summer - unless the region sees a month of continuous rain, which is rather unlikely to happen.