The president of the State Mercantile Society of Agrarian Infrastructures SEIASA, Francisco Rodríguez Mulero, has met today with representatives of the irrigation communities of the Valle del Jerte (Cáceres) to constitute the commissions to follow up the irrigation modernization works planned under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), through SEIASA, has so far activated an investment of 21,189,809.20 euros (VAT not included) of the funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) Phase II to modernize these mountain irrigation communities in Piornal, Valdastillas, Navaconcejo, Tornavacas, Barrado and Jerte.
The Secretary General of Rural Development and Territory of the Junta de Extremadura, Manuel Mejías Tapias, also participated in the meeting.
The objective of the six actions that are the subject of today’s meeting is the saving of water to face possible periods of drought through the construction of storage ponds, the improvement of the irrigation distribution network and the measurement of flow rates to adjust consumption.
Rodríguez Mulero recalled that this is a modernization, that of mountain irrigation, which requires actions with especially complex projects due to the orography, in addition to other factors. In this regard, he has taken advantage of the presence of the Secretary General to thank the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Population and Territory for its efforts in supporting the mountain irrigation of the Valle del Jerte.
Together, the works will benefit 1,892 irrigators who cultivate 1,608 hectares in the municipal areas of Piornal, Valdastillas, Navaconcejo, Tornavacas, Barrado, Arroyomolinos de la Vera, Gargüera and Jerte, in the province of Cáceres.
The actions planned are for the following projects:
· “Project of regulatory infrastructure and irrigation network of traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Irrigators of Piornal (Cáceres)”, which has a budget of 1,017,502.48 euros (VAT no inc.) for 32 hectares that cultivate 159 irrigators.
· “Project of storage infrastructure and irrigation network of traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Irrigants of Valdastillas (Cáceres)”, with a budget of 2,531,740.04 euros (VAT no inc.) for 230 hectares that cultivate 238 irrigants.
· “Project of storage infrastructures and irrigation network of the traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Regantes of San Jorge. Navaconcejo (Cáceres)”, with a budget of 3,732,157.18 euros (VAT no inc.) for 465 hectares that cultivate 600 irrigators.
· “Project of storage infrastructures and irrigation network of the traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Irrigants of Tornavacas (Cáceres)”, with a budget of 2,724,444.86 euros (VAT no inc.) for 131 hectares that cultivate 314 irrigants.
· “Storage infrastructure and irrigation network project of the traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Irrigants Barrado (Cáceres)”, with a budget of 4,641,180.32 euros (VAT no inc.) for 407 hectares that cultivate 176 irrigants.
· “Storage infrastructure and irrigation network project of the traditional mountain irrigation of the Community of Jerte Irrigators (Cáceres)”, with a budget of 6,542,784.28 euros (VAT no inc.) for 343 hectares that cultivate 405 irrigators.
60,82 M€ IN EXTREMADURA OF PRTR PHASES I AND II
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, to date, has scheduled for Extremadura an investment, through SEIASA, of 60.82 million euros in the field of irrigation modernization, under the “Plan for the improvement of efficiency and sustainability in irrigation” of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. In this framework, 11 actions are planned: three in Phase I, worth 27.13 million euros and 8 in Phase II, for 33.70 million euros (VAT not included).
The works, framed within the “Plan for the improvement of efficiency and sustainability in irrigation” included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), are financed with Next Generation funds of the European Union and have a public-private character, so the public contribution will be a maximum of 80 percent of the cost of the eligible expenses, while the communities of irrigators will contribute the rest.
The investment already executed so far by the MAPA, through SEIASA, in Extremadura is estimated at 129.14 million euros (VAT not included), through 31 actions for 18 communities of irrigators, which have allowed to modernize an area of 132,624 hectares, benefiting 23,925 irrigators.