Xàbia continues its work on promoting responsible use of water

The Xàbia Water Observatory held its second meeting of the year last week, a conference chaired by mayor Rosa Cardona and the councillor responsible for Water Distribution, José Marcos Pons (Vox), to which residents, business people, farmers and merchants were invited.

The meeting was planned to address the water situation in Xàbia as the summer season kicks in, a time when the consumption of drinking water is at its greatest, and explained that, according to the indicators of the Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar (CHJ), the town is in the “alert” phase of drought situation, compared to neighbouring municipalities which are at the “emergency” level.

The municipal water company AMJASA, José Luis Henarejos, explained that Xàbia is at the lower “alert” phase thanks to its desalination plant and to good management of the five wells that it uses, saving water that is drawn from them to be made available in the next couple of months. He added that on Wednesday 10th July the desalination plant began working at full capacity to provide about 29,000 cubic metres of water a day.

He explained that the situation was “good” but warned that consumption was higher compared to previous years, highlighting the fact that the month of June was 20% higher than the previous year, an increase he attributed to the lack of rain in recent months which has meant a greater use of garden irrigation.

He said that AMJASA continued to set an example in efficient water management by renewing the infrastructure and urged customers – and in particular the gardening and pool maintenance sector – to focus on “sensorization”, such as preventing scheduled irrigation from being activated at night if it rains or installing more efficient filters in swimming pools. He added that AMJASA and the local council will start working with these two sectors this winter.

Mayor Rosa Cardona stressed that the meeting had been called to talk about the situation of water supply in the town, which is the responsibility of everyone, those who govern, those who manage, and those who work with water every day as well as those who come to Xàbia on holiday. She added that AMJASA and the Department of Tourism have already sent a dossier to the owners of tourist accommodation with information about the campaign “Cada gota, Cuenta” – “Every Drop Counts” – along with others on waste disposal and responsible tourism.

In addition, she insisted that having guaranteed water does not mean wasting it and that small gestures could help save 10% of the individual daily consumption of drinking water, including planting vegetation adapted to the climate, and checking for possible leaks in the network, including in the home.

Finally, councillor José Marcos Pons explained that AMJASA was working all scenarios and taking into account that balance between water that comes from the wells and that which comes from the desalination plant, which has allowed the town to create a reserve to meet the higher demands on the supply during the summer months. He added that Xàbia continued to support other municipalities, such as the Teulada-Benitatxell Consortium.