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Phil Hogan, at the urging of IU MEP Paloma López, recalled that the rural development program of the Region of Murcia sets among its priorities the improvement of the efficiency of the use of water resources by supporting investments to create Water storage networks to ensure supply to the agricultural sector

European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan has responded to a question by MEP Paloma López asking her to use European funds to finance a rain catchment network in the Highlands Of Lorca, as requested by United Left-Greens of Lorca.

Hogan recalls that there are "examples, good practices and funding possibilities" for this natural water retention measure and that there are technical reports and eco-innovation projects funded by the Commission on stormwater abstraction and storage elsewhere in Europe.

However, he points out that it is the Segura Hydrographic Confederation that must decide whether the use of rainwater collected and stored is compatible with the objective of Murcia's water bodies to achieve good status.

For the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the legal framework of the EU's Structural and Investment Funds offers possibilities for financing this type of investment.

Projects co-financed by these Funds are selected and implemented according to the shared management principle of national and regional authorities, which are responsible for the program strategy, eligibility and selection criteria and co-financing rates.

In that sense, Hogan recalls that the rural development program of the Region of Murcia sets among its priorities the improvement of the efficiency of the use of water resources through the modernization of farms and the support to investments to create or maintain networks of Storage of water, sewage or distribution that make possible the saving of water, or to guarantee the supply to the agricultural sector.

MEP Paloma López, who a few months ago visited the Highlands of Lorca accompanied by the councilors of IU-Verdes Pedro Sosa and Gloria Martín, recalled that these districts do not currently have sufficient access to water resources to develop Economically sustainable traditional and organic crops such as almond, olive or thyme.

According to previous studies, the collection of rainwater would increase irrigation in this area by an estimated 1,500 hectares, with an estimated cost of one million euros.

For his part, Gloria Martín has ensured that the solution to the water shortage suffered by irrigators in the districts of northern Lorca is "feasible" and that can count on EU support for its funding for what it entrusted to the mayor of Lorca , Fulgencio Gil, to take the necessary steps to realize a project that would "guarantee the economic viability of agriculture in the area."

Source: IU-verdes Lorca