SPANISH GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES 21 MEASURES TO CUT POLLUTION IN MURCIA’S MAR MENOR TO ‘ZERO’

SPAIN’S Ministry for Ecological Transition has announced 21 measures to reduce pollution and runoff into the Mar Menor to ‘zero’. The measures will tackle dung from cattle farms, runoff from old mines and water treatment in an effort to stop nitrates and nitrites reaching the biodiverse salt-water lagoon. It comes as environmental campaigners have spent years fighting the ‘poisoning’ and ‘green-coloured waters’ at the World Heritage Site. The 10-year project will cost €430 to €615 million with the national Ministry working closely with Murcia’s councillor for agriculture, Antonio Luengo. The most expensive parts of the project include construction of a drainage network around the shore of the lagoon. Murcia’s Hydrographic Confederation of Segura (CHS) will also work to clear up floodwater channels known as ‘ramblas’. Citizens’ action groups have been very critical of the local authorities’ inability to properly maintain these ramblas that drain the land into the sea, as slow-flowing water collects more chemicals destined the lagoon.