Drought in Europe – Important Spanish wetland dried up – News

• In southern Spain one of the most important wetlands in Europe has dried up.
• The last lagoon of the Coto de Doñana National Park is completely dry, as reported by the Spanish newspaper “El País” and regional media.
• The reasons are the excessive extraction of groundwater, for example for strawberry fields and tourism, as well as the long-lasting drought, which is aggravated by climate change.

In the national park founded in 1969, which together with an area protected as a nature park and a “buffer zone” covers almost 1,300 square kilometers, the groundwater level has been falling dramatically for years, as the WWF and other environmental protection organizations complain.

The reason: Legal and illegal wells are used to divert large amounts of water. The water is used to supply tourists and irrigate agricultural areas – especially strawberry fields. This production also increases the nitrate load in the water.

Last year, the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg partially upheld a lawsuit by the EU Commission against Spain for failing to protect the national park. The country is taking “no appropriate steps to prevent the deterioration of protected habitats in wetlands,” the EU Commission wrote in its 2019 lawsuit.

Illegally drilled wells

So far this summer, the authorities have sealed 71 illegally drilled wells, as reported by “El País”. However, the affected farmers drilled a new one for every closed well because the yields from strawberries are higher than the fines. The conservative regional government of Andalusia even wants to expand the areas under cultivation for strawberries.

The wetland along the Guadalquivir River has a unique diversity of ecosystems. It is home to a rich fauna and flora, including endangered species such as the imperial eagle, the Iberian lynx and the spur tortoise. There are also shifting dunes, endless beaches, forests, bushes and swamps. The national park is also an important resting place for migratory birds.