- The reserves provide a third of the province’s water supply.
- The supply was boosted by storm Gloria and rains in spring
The reserves of the Segura Basin are close to 50% of their total capacity and currently holding 15% more water than in the same week in 2019: 542 hm3 compared to 368 hm3 the previous year. A difference of 174 hectometres.
In an unusual trend, during the last week of May and the first week of June, the supply has received 7 additional hectometres, reaching a level of storage that has not been seen since mid-2015.
During the first week of September 2019 there were barely 240 hectometres (19%) left in the swamps of the Segura. Recovery began timidly with DANA, with the heaviest rainfall focused on coastal areas, but it really took off with the storm Gloria in January and has since consolidated with the arrival of Atlantic fronts still laden with rain during the storms that arrived from the east in early spring.
The El Cenajo reservoir, northwest of Murcia, is the most important in the Segura Basin system. It has almost 40% of the total reserve capacity of the system: 437 hectometres of the 1,140 total. It now stores 265 (60%). The second largest reservoir is La Pedrera, in Orihuela. It does not receive natural contributions but is regulated by the Tagus and the Torrevieja desalination plant. It is at 40% with 102 hectometres.
