By David Jackson
Three times as much water is being sucked out of the río Aguas as is going back in, an independent study has found.
The figure comes from a study by Acuíferos Vivos, an association for the defence of water in Almería. This means that the aquifer that supplies the river and dozens of farms will be sucked dry in less than a decade.
A study by the association says that intensive agriculture and olive farming depletes 16.8 cubic hectometres of water annually from the aquifer, against 5.6 cubic hectometres going back in. A recent survey by the Geological Institute of Spain estimated reserves at below 100 cubic hectometres.
