Tenerife being an arid island has ONLY groundwater, no surface water bodies as rivers. The entire water resources split into the groundwater locally called Aguas de la Galeria - sea water turned into freshwater in several desalination plants - as well as recycled water from these main sources administered by the organization BALTEN (Balses de Tenerife).
After 2 interviews with one large banana finca and the banana packaging cooperative COPLACSIL it can be stated that there started a period of water shortage of a certain extent in the year 2019 during the 4 hottest summer months May to August, which occurred 3 of 4 years and resulted in the BALTEN restricting the irrigation water the plantations were permitted to use.
(Reason behind is probably the growth of irrigated area plus the increase of other users as hotels, NOT climate changes, as Tenerife has always been dry.)
More on the available water resources and users follows soon.
This article is not yet completed.
I conducted 7 face-to-face interviews this year, 2023, in April and May with these organizations and businesses: The banana finca El Cordero next to Los Abrigos on the way to Las Galletas, the banana packaging coop COPLACSIL, the banana finca Las Margaritas, the banana packaging cooperative EUROPLATANO, the 2 main governmental water agencies in charge of agriculture BALTEN and Consejo Insular de Aguas de Tenerife the main body of all water users, as well as with the irrigation technique provider Agro Canarias.
BALTEN Balsas de Tenerife is the public institution which built the network of irrigation canals and 21 water reservoirs on the island, since the 1960's. The mountainous region of Tenerife is perforated with a network of privately built structures called las Galerias, which are basically tunnels built into the volcanic soil to extract the groundwater around the Teide. They look like horizontal mining tunnels leading to an extraction point.
Please watch this video about the galerias https://youtu.be/L5yhXmffpsU
The total number of the Galerias is 1,527 scattered in the higher altitudes, and in the area closer to the sea 400 privately built and owned wells exist. The Galerias access water of the aquifer of the island, and the coastal wells receive the run-off of the Galerias.
Of these 1,527 Galerias by 2020, 3 years ago, 844 were permanently dried up and 683 still had water. The 844 dried up Galerias will never again carry water.
The island's water resources are over-exploited since the 60's.
That is why the island has started building desalinations plants, in total they have ... now which provide ,,, cubicmeters of water annually, ...% being diverted to agriculture. The percentage of desalination water of the total water consumed by all sectors together is 20%.
The Galerias will continue drying up, as the water is not naturally replenished by rainfall. According to the opinion of a scientist of the Consejo Insular the wells along the coast will however NOT dry up, but anyhow their water level is also dropping which results in sea water entering them, deteriorating the water quality.
The only renewable source is the water produced by the desalination plants.
The agriculture sector of Tenerife is more or less operating at maximum water use efficiency, as an estimated by Agro Canarias 80% of all fincas use drip irrigation. The remaining 20% irrigate with sprinkler technology. Possibly here is still a capacity to save water, which I still need to find out.
The only 2 sectors which have capacity to SAVE water are the households and the hotels. So far the government never cut the water of the households and there are no laws which prompt hotels to install water saving technologies.
The hotels are a large factor in the water over-exploitation, and in my opinion measures are necessary.
Water cuts are regularly imposed in the case of public parks and golf courses. Water cuts are also imposed for the agriculture sector. The first uses to experience cuts in a drier period, where water levels in the BALTEN balsas are low are the parks and golf courses, next the agriculture sector. Households and hotels have the top priority.
.-------------------- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Exact quantity of water resources available on the island:
Exact amount of water required AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME, April/May 2023, if no restrictions would be necessary to be imposed:
Amount of water LACKING, and thus resulting in seasonal restrictions:
Factors which result in the water shortage during summer:
Do all users and sectors apply the most efficient water-saving technologies:
Which measures would be necessary to PREVENT another restriction this and following years: