The Cabildo of Lanzarote is moving forward with the start of the works of the “project for the modernization and improvement of irrigation in the northeast area of Lanzarote, in the municipalities of Tinajo and Teguise”, which will allow desalting water for agricultural irrigation.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and Minister of Agriculture, Oswaldo Betancort, signed last Friday in a notary the acquisition of full ownership of a farm of 44,153 square meters, in the Vega de Ramírez area, in the municipality of Tinajo, for an amount of 112,148 euros, which will be used for the construction of the so-called Tinache pond, with a capacity of 38,000 cubic meters, for irrigation in the northeast area of the island.
“From the Department of Agriculture of the Cabildo, and in collaboration with the Island Water Council, we are strictly complying with the procedures to start the works of this ambitious project that has a budget of 24.4 million euros and that we have recovered after losing its financing in the last legislature”, according to the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort.
The work is part of the agreement signed on June 19, 2024 between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the State Mercantile Society of Agricultural Infrastructures, S.A. (SEIASA) and the Island Water Council of Lanzarote.
It was declared of general interest by the central government and contemplates the establishment of a network or networks of irrigation water distribution in the northeast area of Lanzarote, the construction of a desalination plant with a capacity of 4,000 m3/day, complemented with filtering wells for brine discharge, and improving energy efficiency through the use of renewable energies through the installation of a wind turbine.
For this purpose, a fire station and a drive will be built to raise the desalinated water to two levels or irrigation steps located at a higher elevation. Two head tanks have been designed for this purpose for these irrigation networks: the one in El Cuchillo, with a capacity of 4,000 m3, and the Tinache pond.
Last August, the project passed the Environmental Impact Study without any allegations being filed, so it is now final and complies with both the Hydrological Plan of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and the Island Plan of Lanzarote and the General Urban Planning Plan of Tinajo.
