Overview
- The Xunta raised the drought level to alerta for 32 municipalities in the Lérez and Anllóns/Costa da Coruña basins, with prealerta extended to 59 more, affecting about 427,000 people.
- Augas de Galicia’s Oficina Técnica da Seca made the decision after months of low discharges and low reservoir occupancy, citing the Lérez flow under 0.7 m3/s, roughly half its ecological minimum.
- Under alerta the regional authority can prohibit non-essential uses such as filling private pools, street washing, garden irrigation and car washing and may order targeted supply cuts.
- Local councils have already put operational measures in place, including nightly supply cuts, closure of beach showers and limits on street cleaning, and maintenance work on the Eiras dam will cause short interruptions.
- The move has intensified calls for joint, supramunicipal management and put pressure on reservoir operations and infrastructure fixes, with officials warning measures could be widened if monitoring shows further decline.