Spain has a huge problem with contaminated waters. These researchers believe that the solution is the poplars

We say little, but Spain is an aquifer country. According to data from the Ministry of Ecological Transitionthese cover more than 90% of the national territory. To the point that the supply of two out of ten Spaniards depends on them.

In this context, it is still worrying that the country has been overexploiting them, contaminating them And even making them disappear. And, eye, between 20,000 and 30,000 cubic hectometers of water come from there.

Is there any way to save them?

There are many. Many. But historical experience tells us that everything that entails rationalizing consumption is not simple in the medium term. Is the “Say law“In full performance: each resource is free for the efficiency improvements that the water system has achieved thanks to the new restrictions, investments and management improvements, they are dedicated to other economic sectors.

They take it pointing at the Datadista For years: decades of “emergency measures” in front of drought has only ended up serving to “expand irrigation, increasing the problem of overexploitation and contamination of aquifers and wetlands.” The point is that the problem continues to grow, we continue to take water from the subsoil and the consequences begin to be very serious.

The management that never comes. Wwf Spain revealed in 2019 that The four most important aquifers in the country have been sheared for years.Beyond: According to the reports of the Geological and Mining Institute“For decades, salinization of Mediterranean and insular Spanish coastal coastal aquifers have been known.” Despite this, “only in a few cases this situation is well managed.”

What if we look for another way to ‘save’ the aquifers? That has been asked at the University of Granada and Institute for Agricultural and Fishing Research and Training of the Junta de Andalucía. And thanks to the European project Life Wood for Future, they have analyzed the impact of the chopperras on aquifers.

Your findings They are very interesting because “It has shown that the chopperras purify the waters contaminated by agricultural fertilizers and that this crop has the capacity to take advantage of nitrates in their growth and prevent contaminating groundwater.”

And no, it is not a theoretical issue. The researchers They are convinced That “the chopperras prevent the most important groundwater from the province, which covers 39 municipalities and widely exceeds the maximum concentration limits of legally established nitrates, 37.5 mg/l in groundwater, be contaminated.”

An incredibly powerful approach. Because “due to their rapid growth, since they can reach about 20 meters high in ten years”, the poplars not only purify nitrate water naturally, but “They have a great ability to kidnap CO2 of the atmosphere, up to 20 tons per year. “

It is funny (so to speak) because suddenly two of the country’s large pending subjects, the management of aquifers and The health of treesare so intimately connected.

Image | Silvan Schuppisser / Garnica

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