Sindicato Central de Regantes del Acueducto Tajo Segura
SCRATS
El Sindicato, como único representante de la colectividad que agrupa, tiene como fin primordial defender los derechos e intereses generales de todos sus miembros, así como ordenar y vigilar el uso coordinado de sus propios aprovechamientos.
ID: 586924143901-12
Lobbying Activity
Response to Evaluation of the LIFE Programme 2014-2020
1 Apr 2022
Comment from the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS: scrats.es).
From the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS), in Murcia, southeastern Spain, we welcome with great satisfaction the publication of this call for evidence for an evaluation of LIFE programme 2014-2020.
The LIFE programme is an extraordinary opportunity to develop different projects related to innovation and the improve of quality of life and sustainability. Spain has been part of this programme during the 2014-2020 period, and SCRATS has been able to see how one of these projects was develop, closely.
Southeastern Spain is characterized by a noticeable hydric resource scarce, due to its characteristic climatic conditions. This has conditioned our area, and forced several economic sectors, such as agriculture, to develop to their maximum potential until achieving an excellent agricultural production. This has been possible for decades thanks to the water resources, fortunately transferred from areas of Spain with greater availability.
However, the scarce of these resources has led to search for other unconventional ones, in order to supply the need of water for agriculture. Such is the case of desalinated seawater (DSW), whose use has increased considerably in recent years. Nevertheless, this poses different problems that must be considered when it is used for irrigation. In this context, several studies have been developed, among which LIFE-DESEACROP project (LIFE16 ENV/ES/000341) has esteemed in the southeast of Spain.
The project was carried out by the Technical University of Cartagena (Murcia, Spain), the University of Almería (Almería, Spain), the Water Users’ Community of the Níjar District (Almería, Spain) and SACYR WATER S.L, in order to demonstrate the sustainable management of DSW resources for crop production in closed soilless system in Spain. The aim was to create a productive, resilient, economically-viable and socially and environmentally-friendly solution applicable to the Canary Islands, Murcia and Almería, and other water-stressed Mediterranean semiarid regions.
Based on these goals, the LIFE DESEACROP project demonstrated the viability and sustainability of using DSW for the irrigation of crops and the treatment of drainages and their reutilization in hydroponic systems in the Mediterranean region, from a productive, economic, social and environmental point of view. The quality of the DSW supplied for irrigation was also assessed and found to be suitable for use on different crops. It also assessed the feasibility of replacing conventional crops with hydroponic crops irrigated with DSW, providing performance indicators of energy and water consumption, carbon footprint, crop costs and profitability.
On the other hand, the impact of boron on the soil and water, an essential but very problematic element for plants when surpasses concentrations around 0.6-08 mg/L, was also analyzed for each crop, and the problems derived from the high energy consumption by the desalination process were considered.
This study has shown that DSW can meet the need for water in the Spanish southeast, but that it is currently limited by the low production of this hydric resource in relation to the high consumption required for human supply and irrigation, which denotes the need of water from different sources, in order to guarantee the availability of water and reduce the impact on water resources.
This project has been an interesting opportunity to develop a line of research that will become a main study for this decade in the Mediterranean regions.
From SCRATS we appreciate the opportunity to participate in this evaluation and we trust the usefulness of the information provided. See theattached information for more details.
Read full responseResponse to Carbon Removal Certification
16 Mar 2022
Comment from the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS: scrats.es).
From SCRATS, in Murcia, southeastern Spain, we welcome with great satisfaction the publication of this initiative which will propose EU standards on carbon removal certification.
In Spain, we have been pursuing the objective of reducing the presence of CO2 for years, seeking to produce the least possible impact on air quality and the environment, through adequate agricultural production and water management. A region with a climate and soil fertility that allows food production as high and efficient as ours, or as that of other European countries on the Mediterranean coast, must be environmentally sustainable so that it can last over time. In this regard, many studies have shown the true importance of regions such as Spain, with a large agri-food production, in terms of protecting air quality.
Crops play a fundamental role as sinks for CO2 and other greenhouse gases, leading to poor air quality. For example, studies by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena estimated atmospheric CO2 reductions at more than 1.2 million tons per year, thanks to the CO2 sink capacity of woody crops, and especially horticultural crops, in the irrigatied zones of the Spanish southeast associated with the Tagus-Segura Transfer. In addition, other studies on CO2 capture using interline crops and other plant covers in horticultural crops are being developed, showing the great potential for eliminating greenhouse gases that agriculture has in areas like ours.
The value in health and environmental sustainability that these regions contribute is immense, and they show the capacity and potential that they can have in air quality management. In Spain we have provided society with robust and objective estimates of the importance of agri-food production, and it is vital that we continue with our work, showing them to all European citizens. In this way, the SCRATS has proven to be aware of the great impact that poor air quality has on the environment and society, and seeks to support the set of improvements proposed in the current Air Quality Directive. For this, we believe it is vital to share as an example, the enormous and adequate management in terms of sustainability that the Tagus-Segura Transfer has been able to achieve during its more than 40 years of work and effort.
From SCRATS we appreciate this consideration and we are aware of the legislation to follow in order to guarantee air protection and the sustainability of our land.
Read full responseResponse to Soil Health Law – protecting, sustainably managing and restoring EU soils
16 Mar 2022
Comment from the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS: scrats.es).
From the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS), in Murcia, southeastern Spain, we welcome with great satisfaction the publication of the initiative and Soil Health Law of the EU Strategy for soil protection by 2030.
The optimal management of soils and their protection is one of the basic pillars of environmental sustainability and its assurance must be among the main objectives of the member states of the EU, at an environmental level. In Spain, the SCRATS well knows the role that the soil plays in the development of a region. In the southeastern Spain, agriculture is one of the main activities that maintains our society and economy, and we would not understand a healthy and sustainable agriculture without a soil with optimal conditions for its development.
For decades, we have advanced on a multitude of initiatives, projects and other actions to protect the base of our ecosystems, both agricultural and natural. Among them, we may highlight the considerable increase in organic and biodynamic agriculture, the restriction of chemical fertilizer products, the use of plant covers next to the crops, or the exhaustive control of the edaphological conditions of the soil. All of them, in order to avoid its continuous deterioration due to agricultural activity.
We are currently considering new initiatives, such as the 2030 Horizon, the Sustainable Development Goals or EU Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies, which broadly encompass the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and soils. However, we believe in a global transformation, since a healthy and fertile land ensures a healthy society and economy.
Concretely in Spain, SCRATS has studied on numerous occasions the impact of agricultural activity on the soil, and has ascertained how farmers continuously struggle to maintain an optimal state of their soil, since it is the element that guarantees them th continuity of its crops. Therefore, agriculture and natural ecosystems must coexist, and it is everyone's task to ensure that our activity does not harm the main element that both share.
Nevertheless, industry, tourism, transportation, each sector has its pros and cons in relation to proper soil maintenance. Hence, specific regulations must be established for each of them. Awareness must go further, and each and every one of the sectors of society must know and develop a behavior that leads to greater stability, productivity and resilience of European soils. We certainly believe that soil conditions can be significantly improved with adequate regulations that reward beneficial and sustainable practices and deny practices that are dangerous.
We want to make available all the information we know to the EU, which we believe can be very useful. In this context, SCRATS is willing to cooperate with EU and intergovernmental bodies, with the aim of assemble relevant policy for healthy soils and evaluate the impact of our acivities, especially concerning agriculture.
From SCRATS we appreciate this consideration and we are aware of the legislation to follow in order to guarantee soil protection and the sustainability of our land.
Read full responseResponse to High purity materials in EU fertilising products
7 Jan 2022
Comment from the Central Union of Irrigators of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (SCRATS: scrats.es) for the Delegated Regulation on Fertilizers: high purity materiales in EU fertilizer products.
From the SCRATS (at Murcia, southeaster Spain), we warmly welcome the publication of the Draft Act on the use of high purity materiales for EU fertilizer products. Althought it is true that there is a current wide variety of fertilizer products to be used in agricultural production, some of the most important are those used as elements or pure fertilizers, such as elemental sulfur. Sulfur has a wide agronomic efficiency both for its fertilizing effect and for its biocidal effect, especially against those pests and pathogens of difficult elimination.
The consideration of presenting an initiative that includes the criteria to guarantee the use of this kind material between EU fertilizer products in a safe way, as stated in the Draft Act and Appendixes, is indeed essentual. From SCRATS we believe that is key to achieve an efficient and robust implementation on the regulation of fertilizer products to be used in agricultural work, due to its strong impact on our ecosystems.
Points (7), (8), (9) and (10) refered to “CMC 15: RECOVERED HIGH PURITY MATERIALES”, on Appendix I, are important especially for the agricultural field, covering the need to register fertilizer productos to be used in Regulation Nº 1907/2006 and where aspects related to the established presence limits of Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli and Enterococcaceae are taken into account.
We firmly believe in an adequate regulation that ensures a correct use of the available fertilizers, and the assurance of the continuity of elemental products of great purity that have so much value for agricultura, and specificallu for the agricultural development of the Mediterranean Basin.
From SCRATS we appreciate this consideration and we are aware of the legislation to follow in order to guarantee food safety in those products fertilized with the different elements included in this Directive and Draft Act.
Read full responseResponse to Food waste reduction targets
23 Oct 2021
Desde el sureste español, el SCRATS apoya este objetivo en las regiones de Alicante, Almería y Murcia, a través de una adecuada gestión de los recursos hídricos y de un manejo adecuado y sostenible de la producción agroalimentaria, vital para evitar las pérdidas y el desperdicio de alimentos durante dicha etapa de producción.
Por ello, y por el afán de cooperación, desde el SCRATS nos encontramos a disposición de la Comisión Europea, mostrando nuestra opinión y buscando dar apoyo al conjunto de mejoras propuestas en la estrategia de reducción del desperdicio de alimentos.
Por favor, diríjanse al documento adjunto para nuestro comentario completo.
Read full responseResponse to Sustainable food system – setting up an EU framework
15 Oct 2021
El SCRATS, cree firmemente en la necesidad de iniciativas centradas en la mejora de la sostenibilidad del sistema alimentario y está a disposición de la Comisión Europea con el fin de ser parte de este necesario movimiento común. La capacidad de gestión en el sector agrícola del sureste español que el SCRATS lleva realizando más de 40 años, y su situación como representantes de una de las zonas con mayor producción agroalimentaria del planeta, son puntos clave para que pueda ser participe del cambio hacia la mejora de la sostenibilidad y autosuficiencia que desde la UE se persigue.
Por favor, diríjanse al documento adjunto para nuestro comentario completo.
Read full response