Mar Menor relief plan on public display

THE FLAGSHIP project to save the Mar Menor – a 22.5-kilometre-long pipeline network to pump run-off water from farmers’ fields into the Mediterranean Sea – has been put on public display by the Segura river and water authority (CHS).

The scheme is budgeted at €70.1 million.

It is the main thrust of the so-called ‘zero-spillage’ plan which is being launched by the regional and national governments.

According to the CHS, the pipeline would gather water containing farming chemicals which currently filters from inland fields into the Albujón watercourse near Los Alcázares and the huge aquifer under the Campo de Cartagena area.

This aquifer dates back to the Quaternary period and is considered one of the main sources of polluted water as it is linked with the Mar Menor and they exchange water constantly. The underground water would be pumped to a decontamination plant at San Pedro del Pinatar, which would be built by the regional government.

After being treated and ‘purified’ it would then be transferred to the Mediterranean Sea via a 7.2-kilometrelong pipeline.

The CHS noted that the length of the underwater pipeline would guarantee that the sea prairies near the coastline would not be damaged.

They noted that these are considered the ‘forest’ of the Mediterranean and protecting them is crucial as the plants clean the water, oxygenate it and are home to hundreds of species of sea creatures.

More on Mar Menor pollution on p7.