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fullscreenTenerife plans to declare state of emergency due to drought. Archive image. Photo: Marianne Løvland/NTB/TT
Tenerife plans to declare a state of emergency on Friday due to drought, reports Euronews. The island risks months or perhaps even years of critically low water levels ahead, experts warn.
“It has been one of the driest winters in history,” says the president of Tenerife’s government, Rosa Dávlia.
Although the winter months are generally wet, the island has received significantly less rain than normal. At the same time, Tenerife has also experienced its warmest January in 60 years with an average temperature of 20 degrees.
The island has no rivers and few dams, and 80 percent of water consumption comes from groundwater.
On February 1 this year, the water reservoirs were 34 percent full, compared to 52 percent during the same period last year.
In recent years, precipitation has decreased between 15 and 40 percent, while water evaporation has increased due to warmer temperatures.