Water reserves in the Balearic Islands increase to 46% during September

Oct 13, 2024 | Current affairs, Featured, Interview, Portada, Post, Revista Lloseta, Thursday Daily Bulletin, Tradition, Writter


The Artà Demand Unit goes on alert, activating the measures of the Special Action Plan for Situations of Alert and Possible Drought.

Water reserves in the Balearic Islands have increased to 46% during September, an increase of 3 percentage points over the previous month, but still 6 points less than in the same period last year, when they stood at 52%. This situation continues to call for rigorous monitoring and responsible management of available resources.

TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram

Water reserves in the Balearic Islands increase to 46% during September

This month there has been a change of scenario: the Artà Demand Unit (UD) has gone on alert. Thus, the UD of Artà, es Pla and Formentera are currently in the alert scenario, activating the measures established in the Special Plan of Actions in Situations of Alert and Possible Drought. These measures include the limitation of garden irrigation, street cleaning, ornamental uses and beach showers by the managing entities without connection to desalination plants, as well as restrictions on water supply in rural areas and the promotion of awareness campaigns by the administrations.

Meanwhile, 82.2% of the Balearic Islands territory, comprising the UD of Menorca, Manacor-Felanitx, Migjorn, Palma-Alcúdia, Tramuntana Norte, Tramuntana Sur and Eivissa, remains in pre-alert.

About the evolution of bookings by Demand Unit, four DUs have registered a decrease: Artà, Manacor-Felanitx, Tramuntana Sur and Formentera, while three DUs have experienced an increase: Menorca, Migjorn and Tramuntana Norte. The UDs of es Pla, Palma-Alcúdia and Eivissa have remained stable. The general index for the demarcation is 0.365, a slight increase compared to the previous month, but lower than last year (0.429) and two years ago (0.438).

As for the percentages of bookings by island, Mallorca has risen from 43% to 47%, Menorca has increased from 39% to 44%, and Eivissa has increased slightly from 32% to 33%. Despite this improvement, the overall situation in the Balearic Islands is still less favourable than it was a year ago.

According to AEMET data, September was a normal month in terms of rainfall, with an average of 48.8 l/m² compared to the usual 61.2 l/m². By islands, Menorca recorded 48.1 l/m² (vs. 56.9 l/m²), Mallorca 49.0 l/m² (vs. 62.7 l/m²) and Eivissa 55.3 l/m² (vs. 60.1 l/m²). In contrast, Formentera had a dry month, with only 22.2 l/m² (vs. 42.6 l/m²).

The percentage of accumulated annual rainfall in the Balearics stands at 76%, with Mallorca at 77%, Menorca at 87% and the Pitiusas at 56%. In terms of temperatures, the month of September has been considered normal, with an average temperature of 22.1ºC and an anomaly of -0.2ºC.

Considering the current situation and the recorded rainfall, it is expected that stocks may continue to increase during the month of October, with no significant changes in the scenario expected.