This Green Program enables a prioritized investment scheme for the necessary actions, with special emphasis on actions at source and nature-based solutions; and that outlines the implementation of a common governance, management and monitoring model for all actors committed to the future of this natural space.
This initiative analyzes and selects the measures contemplated in previous initiatives and, in particular, in the Dumping Plan 0 and in the Road Map of urgent actions that the Ministry launched in October 2019, after the serious episode of fish mortality that the Mar Menor suffered.
With this program, MITECO advances in the construction of a comprehensive and coordinated response for the lagoon in the medium term. In parallel, as it has been doing since the beginning of the ecological crisis in the Mar Menor, the Ministry has updated the report on the actions of the General State Administration to address the situation of the lagoon. These interventions combine the reinforcement of inspection tasks, urgent actions and structural responses.
Within this framework, MITECO has started the procedure to declare the groundwater body "070.052 Campo de Cartagena", directly linked to the Mar Menor, at risk of not achieving good quantitative or chemical status. This declaration, currently in a period of public information, will facilitate the activation of coordinated measures by all administrations to protect the aquifer and, by extension, the lagoon itself.
It is a consequence of the results of the study of the quaternary aquifer, which estimates that, in the hydrological year 2018-2019, the accumulated discharge of water to the lagoon was 8.5 cubic hectometers (hm³), which come from 70% of half north of the shoreline. The amount of nitrates discharged into the Mar Menor during the 2018/19 hydrological year would have been 1,575 tons, with a daily average of 4,111 kg.
Surveillance and inspection activities
In addition, the surveillance, inspection and proposal of sanctioning proceedings in the area continue, after MITECO has doubled the number of personnel dedicated to these tasks. The need to act in this area has been reinforced with the recent action of the Contentious-Administrative Section of the Superior Prosecutor's Office of the Region of Murcia, which has requested the Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and the Environment, as a competent public administration, to open the corresponding files to demand environmental responsibility from those natural and legal persons who have been able to influence the pollution and degradation of the Mar Menor.
In this sense, the update report quantifies some 9,500 hectares that are not registered in the registry and that have been identified by remote sensing. Of these, some 1,600 already have a file completed and communicated to the Government of the Region of Murcia, competent in the sanctioning field; and another 1,900 have an open file. Proceedings to initiate the mandatory administrative files continue to clarify the legality of the remaining area. In the same way, the tasks to detect illegal dislodgers continue -182 have been sealed, so far-, and the control of discharges to public channels, with 38 files opened so far this year.
The files are also transferred to the Superior Prosecutor of the Region.
Actions to reduce and avoid spills
Along with the actions at source to reduce the generation of pollutants that end up in the lagoon, the MITECO roadmap includes actions to reduce its entry into the Mar Menor. Among other actions, the pumping installation on the Rambla del Albujón was launched on May 7, once its processing before the regional authorities of the Region of Murcia was completed.
Coastline protection
MITECO has also completed the drafting of the Mar Menor coastline protection plan that identifies and prioritizes the necessary actions for the protection of the lagoon coast, so that they contribute to its environmental recovery. The plan includes actions that range from reconsideration of the boundary line to the release of occupations in the Terrestrial Maritime Public Domain (DMPT), or the improvement of conditions of use. In its implementation, one of the priority actions is the identification of possible restoration projects for coastal ecosystems of the Mar Menor that contribute to its resilience and self-purification capacity.
Studies for the recovery of the natural space
On the other hand, the Ministry collaborates with different institutions in the development of studies that contribute to the recovery of space. This is the case of the works that have been carried out together with Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) for the hydrological and forest restoration of the mining basins that flow into the Mar Menor. They contemplate a proposal for measures that includes, among others, the construction of limestone beds; new dykes for sediment retention; correction of slopes; reforestation of the bed, slopes and river banks and the stabilization, inerting and revegetation of the mining deposits; actions that must be complemented with interventions at source in the area of competence of the Autonomous Community.
The UPCT is working on a second study that will define the actions and measures to reduce the risk of flooding in urban areas in Campo de Cartagena, as well as to minimize the amount of sediment mobilized and washed away as a consequence of extreme rains. The study focuses mainly on the areas of Los Alcázares and San Javier, very affected by the latest episodes of torrential rain.
On the other hand, MITECO has requested the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) to update the report that it prepared -at the request of the Ministry- on the state of the lagoon, as a result of the massive mortality event that fish that took place on October 12. The IEO will also be entrusted with a study on the situation of the nacra in the Mar Menor. This mollusk is the only species in critical condition with presence in the lagoon.
