Two major pipeline projects that will help guarantee water supply in Malaga given green light

The Junta de Andalucía has awarded contracts for the drawing up of construction plans for two major projects that will help guarantee water supply in Malaga province.

One scheme that’s been dubbed the ‘water highway’ would involve some 100km of pipes that would supply water to the Costa del Sol, from Manilva to Torremolinos.

The project aims to replace the current issue-plagued pipeline that is five decades old, and boost the connection and transfer capacity with Malaga city and the Axarquía, through to the Campo de Gibraltar.

Pen was also put to paper to officially start designing another pipeline route, this time 142km from the Iznájar reservoir in Cordoba province to the dozen municipalities in the Antequera and Nororma districts that are suffering from water supply problems.

The construction of the two major infrastructures is valued at about 200 million euros, although this figure is expected to rise.

The amount will be specified in the drafting of the construction projects commissioned by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture and Water.

The contracts awarded so far (east and west branch of the large Costa de la Costa pipeline, and the Iznájar transfer) have a cost 1.38 million euros and a completion period of one year.

Water highway

An improvement of the entire main network that supplies the western coast has been pending for years, but the deterioration of the pipeline has reached such a point that it is no longer able to cope.

Constructed in 1972, a good part of these 100kms of pipes are out of service, so the supply depends almost entirely on a secondary pipeline that was built in the 1980s to extend coverage, but also experiences issues.

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The project has been divided into two parts, one which starts at the Río Verde water treatment plant (Marbella): the west, 39.6km long, which supplies water to Marbella, Estepona, Casares and Manilva; and the east, 57km long, which serves the eastern part of Marbella and the municipalities of Mijas, Fuengirola, Benalmádena and Torremolinos.

The first part will be drafted by the alliance formed by Irtene and Narval Ingeniería with a budget of 339,186 euros; the second, by the temporary joint venture Abastecimiento Ramal Este de Málaga for a further 385,175 euros.

The Junta would take on the engineering works, but has is not yet decided which administrations could finance the works, which will cost more than 150 million euros.

Iznájar transfer

The plan for a 142km pipeline from the Iznájar reservoir (the largest in Andalucía) in Cordoba to the dozen municipalities in the Antequera and Nororma districts would provide a flow of 4.89 cubic hectometres that would only be used for domestic consumption, not irrigation.

This figure is no coincidence, as below 5 Hm3 it could be approved directly by the Cabinet, but above that volume meant a new law would need to be created, which would take more time. No progress has been made in Madrid during the three years that passed since the Andalucian government raised awareness about the initiative in mid-2020 to kickstart the project, which has been in the pipeline for 25 years.

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The upstream network would consist of a primary artery from the Iznájar water treatment plant to Antequera with branches to Cuevas Bajas, Cuevas de San Marcos and Villanueva de Algaidas; and two secondary branches.

The right branch would reach Archidona and, from there, supply Villanueva de Tapia, Villanueva del Trabuco and Villanueva del Rosario; and the left branch would go to Fuente de Piedra, Humilladero, Mollina and Alamed.