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Spanish to English: Spanish to English sample translation (approx. 500 words) General field: Tech/Engineering Detailed field: Environment & Ecology
Source text - Spanish La Estación Biológica alerta de la desecación de las lagunas de Doñana
Un informe pide limitar el uso del agua en la urbanización de Matalascañas
Los científicos llevan décadas alertando del descontrol en las extracciones de agua en el acuífero del espacio natural de Doñana. El problema sigue sin estar resuelto. Y, ahora, se alerta del proceso de "desecación" que están sufriendo las lagunas peridunares del parque. "Hay una preocupación sobre las lagunas", apunta Juan José Negro, director de la Estación Biológica de Doñana, dependiente del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Este asunto se analizó el lunes en el Consejo de Participación del parque. El proceso de desecación de las lagunas —"que son el corazón de Doñana"— ha ido parejo a la reducción del nivel del acuífero, afirma Negro.
Sin embargo, el director de la Estación Biológica no se aventura todavía a fijar una causa concreta que explique este fenómeno. "Nadie está seguro de lo que está pasando", añade.
En los últimos años, se ha focalizado el problema en las extracciones descontroladas para la agricultura en el entorno del parque, un asunto que aún no está resuelto. La investigadora Carmen Díaz-Paniagua, de la Estación Biológica de Doñana, añade otro factor: el consumo de agua en la urbanización de Matalascañas, ubicada en Almonte (Huelva). Díaz-Paniagua ha elaborado un informe en el que se alerta de que "las lagunas ya no son capaces de resistir los años de sequía, produciéndose incluso la desecación" de las "más permanentes".
Ante esta situación, Díaz-Paniagua apuesta por limitar el uso del agua en la zona más próxima a las lagunas, en la urbanización de Matalascañas. Por un lado, esta investigadora pide concienciar a los propietarios y veraneantes de la "fragilidad del ecosistema en que está integrada la urbanización". Por otro, reclama la implicación de las Administraciones: "En años secos se deberían adoptar medidas especiales para reducir el consumo de agua, entre las que podrían incluirse desde la prohibición de riegos de jardines hasta limitaciones de disponibilidad de agua".
Esta investigadora también cree que sería conveniente transformar el campo de golf de Matalascañas en unas instalaciones de tipo "rústico". Este tipo de campos ya existen en algunos puntos de España y se "caracterizan porque solo mantienen sus instalaciones con las precipitaciones naturales, sin aportar riegos adicionales".
La decena de lagunas costeras de Doñana se alimentan de dos fuentes. En época de lluvias, reciben las escorrentías. El resto del año, el acuífero mantiene el nivel de las lagunas con sus aportaciones. Casi todas se secan durante los periodos con menos precipitaciones. "A la mayoría se les va acortando el ciclo húmedo y están secas más tiempo", afirma Díaz-Paniagua, quien ya alertó sobre este problema en otro informe de 2008. Solo la laguna de Santa Olalla se puede considerar permanente. "El año pasado faltó muy poco para que se secara", advierte. Esta investigadora insiste en el problema que supone la urbanización de Matalascañas, que solo capta el agua del acuífero.
El alcalde de Almonte, José Antonio Domínguez Iglesias, no quiere oír hablar de restricciones al consumo en Matalascañas. Culpa al resto de Administraciones de la situación. "Lo que hay que hacer es cumplir con el dictamen de expertos de 1992", afirma. Según el regidor, en aquel dictamen estaba previsto desplazar las tres captaciones de Matalascañas a la parte central del acuífero, es decir, alejarlas de las lagunas. Con todo, el alcalde sostiene que "el acuífero está perfectamente ahora".
Translation - English Biological Station warns of lagoons drying up in Doñana
Report calls for water restrictions in Matalascañas housing development
For decades, scientists have been raising the alarm about the uncontrolled extraction of water from the Doñana natural park aquifer. The problem remains unsolved, and now they are warning of the drying up of the park´s peridunal lagoons.
“We are concerned about the lagoons,” indicates Juan José Negro, Director of the Doñana Biological Station, an institute belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). This issue was studied on Monday by the park´s Participation Council. The drying up process of the lagoons – “which are the heart of Doñana” – is matched by a reduction in the aquifer water level, confirms Negro. However, he will not yet venture a definitive explanation for the phenomenon, adding that “no one is sure of what is happening.”
In recent years, the problem has focused on unchecked water extraction for agricultural use in the areas surrounding the park – a matter still unresolved. Researcher, Carmen Díaz-Paniagua, from the Doñana Biological Station, adds another factor: Water consumption in the Matalascañas housing development, located in Almonte (Huelva). Díaz-Paniagua has set out a report in which she warns that “the lagoons are no longer able to survive the drought years, with the result that even the most permanent lagoons are drying up.”
Faced with this situation, Díaz-Paniagua proposes limiting water use in Matalascañas, the area closest to the lagoons. On the one hand, she wants to raise awareness among home owners and summer holidaymakers of the “fragility of the ecosystem in which the housing development is integrated”. On the other hand, she calls for the authorities to take responsibility: “In dry years, special measures should be taken to reduce water consumption, which could range from hosepipe bans on gardens to restrictions on availability of water.”
Díaz-Paniagua also suggests transforming the Matalascañas golf course to put in place a ‘rustic’ approach. These types of golf courses already exist in some parts of Spain and “feature natural facilities which use rainwater for maintenance, without requiring further water supplies.”
The dozen coastal lagoons in Doñana are fed from two sources. In the rainy season, they are filled with run-off waters, and the rest of the year, the aquifer feeds into the lagoons and keeps the levels up. Almost all the lagoons dry up in the months with less precipitation. “In the case of most of the lagoons, the wet season is increasingly shorter and they are drier for longer periods,” confirms Díaz-Paniagua, who already raised the alert on this problem in a 2008 report. Only the Santa Olalla lagoon can be considered permanent. “Last year it was very close to drying up,” she warns, insisting that the Matalascañas housing development poses a real problem, because its only water source is the aquifer.
The Mayor of Almonte, José Antonio Domínguez Iglesias, does not want to hear talk of restrictions on water consumption in Matalascañas. He blames the situation on the rest of the authorities. “What we need to do is make sure the judgement of the 1992 Commission of Experts is complied with,” he says. According to Domínguez Iglesias, the Commission had planned to move the three Matalascañas water catchment areas to the central part of the aquifer, further away from the lagoons. Despite the tensions, the Mayor maintains that “the aquifer is absolutely fine at the moment”.
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