August 3, 2023.- After completing the administrative procedure, the BOE of August 2 has published Order TED/918/2023, of July 21, approving the regulatory bases for the granting of competitive assistance for the elaboration of projects of digitalization of communities of water users for irrigation within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and approves the call for the year 2023.
This first call, which has a budget of 100 million euros, is intended for projects of digitalization of the irrigation that contribute to improve the knowledge of the uses of water in the environment and transparency in the administrative management. In addition, initiatives are included to improve water losses on irrigated farms, water use on irrigated farms and the use of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as to improve energy efficiency on irrigated farms and, in general, their productivity.
The call establishes several reserves of credit that, if they are not exhausted, will be accumulated to the general line:
- €25,000,000 for applications submitted by user communities supplying groundwater bodies formally declared at risk of breaching environmental objectives.
- 25,000,000 euros for applications submitted by user communities that supply bodies of groundwater that do not reach good condition.
- 10,000,000 euros for applications submitted by user communities that supply bodies of surface water that do not reach good condition.
From an operational point of view, the implementation of this process hinges on the so-called Catalogue of Irrigation Digitization Solutions, composed of seven components:
- Digital solution A. Creation of an application for electronic processing and a web portal.
- Digital solution B. Creation of inventories and web services of geographic information systems and cadastral identification of the agricultural plot and irrigation network.
- Digital solution C. Technological improvements and digitalization of the control systems of the volume of water actually used.
- Digital solution D. Monitoring of the water content in the soil for irrigation optimization.
- Digital solution E. Monitoring of water quality in irrigation returns to surface channels.
- Digital solution F. Monitoring of leachates in groundwater.
- Digital solution G. Support for remote control, monitoring and support for fertigation and improvement of energy efficiency.
The irrigation communities will present the projects based on their technological needs according to these seven digital solutions.
The projects will be selected in competitive competition among the projects submitted that meet the established requirements. The technical quality of the proposal will be assessed, taking into account, at all times, environmental, social and strategic criteria for the selection of projects through a valuation commission between the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA).
The aid will range from EUR 100,000 to EUR 2 million per project as a general rule, setting maximum amounts per digital solution, irrigated area and other aspects established in the bases.
The final publication of the bases in the BOE can be found at the following link: https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2023-17775
The deadline for submitting applications will be 30/10/2023 to 13/12/2023. To do this, all the information and documentation required will be provided in the corresponding web portal of the call for applications and through the MITECO electronic HEADQUARTERS.
The following mailbox is enabled to make inquiries regarding the call: bzn-perte-cyclo-water@miteco.es