Drought leads to water rationing in capital

Parched terraced farm land in La Gomera's north

The severe drought which is affecting the Canary Islands has now begun to affect the drinking water supply even on La Gomera, which normally has an abundant supply of spring water. Recently the council of the capital San Sebastian de La Gomera introduced emergency measures to ensure a sufficient supply to the taps of the town. Water in specific districts will be cut off in rotation at night from 11pm until 7am when supplies have fallen, in a measure to allow the supply to be maintained everywhere during the day. It is generally prohibited to use drinking water to wash cars, water gardens, etc. Public green areas will be irrigated with recycled and purified waste water. The town has already installed pressure-reducing valves in many locations to conserve water and is continuing to repair any leaking pipes.

Rainfall has been below average in the Canary Islands for four consecutive years now and the situation is grave, particularly for agriculture. In October and November of this year only 25% of the average amount of precipitation for this period fell in the Canaries. Crops have failed or couldn't be sown, fruit trees died and many irrigation-water reservoirs are completely empty. The low humidity, unseasonal heat and lack of rain have also led to a proliferation of pests and plant diseases. The beekeepers of La Gomera report that honey production is down to just 40% of normal because of the drought, and many wild bees are literally dying of hunger while beekeepers are having to feed their bees with sugared water.

Tourists and visitors hardly notice anything abnormal, except for the less green countryside, as the taps and showers still run. I don't want to sound alarmist, but I would appeal to all to please use La Gomera's water sparingly and help conserve what's left of the island's precious resource. Unlike the other Canary islands we don't have desalination plants to supply the tourism infrastructure on La Gomera, and even if some rain may fall soon it will take a lot of rain over a longer period of time to percolate deeply to feed the springs and to return the water deposits to normal levels.

Huge drinking water loss

Water tap in La Calera, Valle Gran Rey

In contrast to some of the other Canary Islands, La Gomera has an abundant supply of water. While the many open reservoirs are exclusively used for irrigation of the crops in summer, nearly all the drinking water and the domestic supply comes from wells and springs that produce water of excellent quality. Rainfall replenishes these, but the forest that covers the top of the island produces additional water when the mist and fog that are carried across the mountains by the trade winds condensate on the trees and percolate through the ground to feed the springs. 

However, the past winter brought very little rain to La Gomera and a recent survey revealed that half of La Gomera's drinking water available through the public water supply is lost and wasted because of an ageing and often faulty infrastructure. Measurements have shown that there are numerous leaks between source and households. The town of San Sebastian is now introducing 2.500 pressure reducing valves and diffusers in a measure which is expected to save 44.000 litres of precious water per day.

Other towns like Valle Gran Rey have also begun to replace old and leaking pipes, but it will take a long time until the full amount of water entering the distribution system will actually be contained within the grid and available to consumers. 

The water survey included water reservoirs and it was found that agriculture uses 82% of all available water, while about 18% is for human consumption, including the 6,3% used by the tourism sector. More than three quarters of all available water on the island of La Gomera comes from underground sources.

The island's capital San Sebastian is the only town so far which uses treated and purified waste water for the irrigation of its public parks and green areas, saving 0,6% of all available water. 

Dry winter causing worry

Farmland near Vallehermoso, La Gomera

While the very dry winter in the Canary Islands this year may be exactly what tourists expect and want to experience when they spend their holidays here, the prolonged drought is a worrying fact for locals and especially the farming community. 

Some rain fell in October and November but there was hardly a drop since then and February continues the same trend. Farming has been particularly badly affected and the Canarian minister for agriculture has recently stated in parliament that potato crops for example could be down by as much as 50-60 % this winter season. 

Here in La Gomera there were some heavier falls of rain in the island's north and northeast, almost filling some water reservoirs used for irrigation, but the rest of the island got very little rain, so that some farmers didn't even bother planting crops that need the winter precipitation. Some bored wells in lower farmland near the sea have also been reported to gradually become more saline and potentially damaging to banana crops.

The drinking water supply which comes almost exclusively from tapped springs here has remained fairly stable up to now. However the administration  of the municipality of Vallerhermoso in La Gomera's northwest, an area normally receiving abundant rainfalls in winter, has restricted the use of drinking water and banned its use for the watering of plants and gardens as well as washing cars as a precautionary measure during the drought.

Water reservoir for irrigation in Las Rosas in La Gomera's north is still almost full after heavy autumn rain in the area

Plenty of water

La Gomera has an abundant supply of water and this winter nearly all the reservoirs are full and overflowing. The reservoirs are only used for irrigation of the crops in summer, while nearly all the drinking water and the domestic supply comes from wells and springs that produce water of excellent quality. The forest that covers the top of the island produces additional water when the mist and fog that are carried across the mountains by the trade winds condensate on the trees and percolate through the ground to feed the springs. 

Waterfalls In Valle Gran Rey

Even though it hasn't rained anymore for several days there are still waterfalls cascading into Valle Gran Rey. One of them is tumbling in the deep ravine of the Barranco del Agua which also contains a well in its bottom that produces 1,8 million litres of water, supplying most households in the valley with clean, cool water.

Waterfall into the Barranco del Agua in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera