The Minister of Sustainable Development of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Mercedes Gómez, has spoken out against the draft proposal for a new decree on the rules of operation of the Tajo-Segura transfer that the Government will present throughout this Thursday, an initiative that, while it includes the points raised last week in which the situation of level 2 in the headwater reservoirs is extended to 1,600 cubic hectometers or the reduction to 11 cubic hectometers transferable in level 3, only sets a position for this 2025 and does not advance anything for 2026 and 2027.
This was stated in response to questions from the media before participating in the conference on thermal decarbonization of the Industry in Castilla-La Mancha organized by Alianza Q-Cero, Cecam, Iberdrola, and the University of Castilla-La Mancha, where she stated that this decree «is not sufficient.»
«It is not enough, first of all, because at the moment we do not have the report from the Center for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works (Cedex) on which the modification of the operating rules is based, so it is essential to be able to analyze carefully what is said there to be able to make the right decisions on the path to follow for the modification,» she emphasized.
She referred to the fact that this draft proposes a progression over time in terms of the application of the operating rules and their modifications. «There is a proposal for 2025 and we have been told that there will be a proposal for 2026 and a proposal for 2027,» said Gómez, who added that «the proposal for 2025 is the one presented in this draft Royal Decree, which does not say anything about what will happen in 2026 or 2027.»
This has led her to say that this draft should reflect that there will be this progression and if it is not going to happen, she added, the modification of the operating rule must be defined for those three years in this document presented this Thursday.
«That is what we are going to ask the Government of Spain for, that we recognize the progress being made and recognize that there has really been a reflection that with the current rules we could not continue, but it is obvious that this proposal still lacks maturity to be truly accepted by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and by the municipalities along the banks of the Entrepeñas and Buendía reservoirs,» she asserted.
OFFERING TECHNICAL ALTERNATIVES
On the other hand, the minister indicated that the regional government is working from a technical point of view to be able to offer alternatives, so during the public information period that will be opened for this draft Royal Decree, contributions will be made in order to improve it. A document that, when ready, will be presented at the Water Board.
A Board for which she indicated that there is no date because it will be necessary to wait for the Central Exploitation Commission to say when the public information period begins and provide all the necessary information to be able to analyze «the proposal» in its entirety and conduct that technical analysis.
Regarding level 3 proposed by this Royal Decree and the change in thresholds for transfers, the minister lamented that a reference discharge level has still not been established as «each and every one of the Spanish reservoirs have.» «Until that reference discharge is established, setting a limit to rule N3, even if it is automatic and is no longer at the discretion of a Council of Ministers deciding one thing or another, we do not like it.»
In this same appearance, the president of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Castilla-La Mancha (Cecam) has also been present, who agreed with what the Minister of Sustainable Development said and stated that this Royal Decree seems «insufficient» to the business community.