Dénia rice-growers 'pinching Pego marsh water'

Not only is Dénia stealing their rice-producing thunder, but it is also stealing their marshland water, Pego council complains – a paddy field on territory owned by the district capital is siphoning off the river Bullent. The recent launch of 'Dénia rice' – supposedly to 'complement, not compete with' the nationallyfamous 'Pego rice' – has already upset residents and local authorities.

But to rub salt into the wound, the largest river across te Pego Marjal – the Bullent – is now found to be 'illegally' supplying the 'Dénia rice' crop. Practically all the Pegobranded rice is grown in paddy fields flooded from the Bullent, the river where the much-loved annual fancy-dress raft race takes place, says the local irrigation community. They use the river Racons in the Marjal very rarely, because its salt levels are usually too high for the crop.

The council says it does not have authority over use of the Marjal waters and only the irrigation community can give permission – and the irrigation community says it has not done so.

Pego has contacted the regional water supply and rivers authority, the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) to confirm whether the 'Dénia rice' fields are indeed using water from the Bullent – which lies within Pego territory – and, if so, who agreed to its being rechannelled into Dénia-owned land.