Artà and Formentera go to pre-alert, while es Pla remains as the only UD in alert status
The month of December saw a slight decrease in water reserves in the Balearic Islands, which closed the year 2024 at 52%. This figure is two points lower than the 54% recorded in November and is also below the 53% reached during the same period last year.
The percentage of bookings also varies from island to island. Mallorca has seen a decrease from 56% to 53%, while Menorca has seen a slight improvement, with an increase from 48% to 50%. On the other hand, Eivissa has suffered a decline, with reservations dropping from 37% to 36%, consolidating its position as one of the most vulnerable areas of the archipelago.
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The Balearic Islands’ water reserves close in 2024 at 52%
About the behaviour of the Demand Units (DU), six have experienced a decrease in their reserves, namely Artà, Migjorn, es Pla, Tramuntana Norte, Tramuntana Sur and Eivissa. On the other hand, three UDs have improved their situation (Menorca, Manacor-Felanitx and Formentera), while the UD Palma-Alcúdia has maintained the same levels as the previous month. The most significant decreases have been registered by UD Tramuntana Norte and UD es Pla, while the most notable increase corresponds to UD Menorca.
This evolution has led to a change in the distribution of the alert scenarios. Thus, 16.0% of the territory (the Tramuntana Norte and Tramuntana Sur DU) is in a normal situation, 73.8% (Menorca, Artà, Manacor-Felanitx, Palma-Alcúdia, Eivissa and Formentera) remains in pre-alert, and 10.2% (the Pla DU) is in the alert scenario. In general terms, the situation in the Demarcation translates into an index of 0.460, higher than last year (0.437) but lower than two years ago (0.489).
In this context, there have been two significant changes in the scenario: the Artà and Formentera DU have gone from the alert scenario to the pre-alert scenario, leaving es Pla as the only DU still on alert.
Rainfall and temperatures
According to data provided by AEMET, the month of December has been dry in the Balearic Islands, with an average rainfall of 40.2 l/m², well below the usual 68.4 l/m² for this period. The islands of Mallorca and Formentera were particularly dry, with values below 55% of the historical average. Menorca and Eivissa, on the other hand, recorded rainfall within the normal climatic range for this time of year.
In terms of temperatures, the month of December was classified as normal, with an average of 11.5 ºC and a thermal anomaly of -0.2 ºC.
Taking into account the current situation, the time of year and the rainfall recorded during the month of December, it is not expected that water reserves will increase significantly. This could keep most of the DUs within the pre-alert scenario, although there is a possibility that the Tramuntana North and Tramuntana South DUs will move towards normality during the month of January.
In short, the Balearic Islands’ water reserves close the year with a general pre-alert situation that highlights the need to maintain vigilance and sustainable management of the archipelago’s water resources.