Drought threat to Spain as farmers and developers gulp down precious water

As Spain struggles to cope with the worst drought for 10 years, running water may soon be cut in some parts of the South-east.

Taps could run dry in Murcia and Alicante. Reservoirs which supply that part of the country are down to 10 per cent of their capacity after months of severe drought. Up to two million people who are served by those depleted reservoirs could be left having to depend on bottled water.

Spain's Environment Minister Cristina Narbona accused politicians in Alicante and Murcia of being more concerned with building thousands of villas, hotels and golf courses, than managing the water supply. Spain's booming agricultural sector, growing fruit and vegetables in plastic tunnels, is another huge drain on the water supply.

In the past week, the amount of water in the Entrepeñas and Buendia reservoirs in central Spain has fallen by five cubic hectometres. More than half of the water reserves are little more than mud and not useful for human consumption.

With a total of only 244 cubic hectometres left, they have reached the point where there is little water remaining in the Segura and Júcar rivers. Those rivers supply drinking water to the homes and businesses in Murcia and the Valencian province of Alicante. Reservoirs in the Segura river are currently at 12 per cent of their normal capacity while those in the Jucar are down to 13 per cent after losing 28 cubic hectometres in the past week alone. It means with water levels so low, residents in Murcia and Alicante may have only a few weeks of running water left. If the expected rains do not arrive in October, then the situation could worsen.

The authorities have admitted the crisis has never been more serious, despite previous bad droughts in 2004 and last year.

Meanwhile, with the holiday season still in full swing, tourists in hundreds of hotels across this part of Spain, are consuming dwindling supplies. And many Britons, who have flown to Murcia or Alicante to enjoy the sunshine and improve their golf handicap, may be unaware how the courses are also eating up the country's scarcest resource. Ecologists have estimated that one golf course alone consumes the same amount of water each year as a small town of 5,000 people. Ms Narbona approved drought emergency aid of €600m (£400m), part of which will be used to try to reduce the amount of water that is being wasted on farms. Tomato farms, which require a large amount of water, are typical of Alicante and Murcia. Last year, as Spain experienced the worst drought for nearly 60 years, farmers were reduced to using waste water on their crops.

Earlier this month, in a report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Spain was named the worst developed country for water management, because of the amount of water leaking away from rusty pipes.

And increasingly many farmers resort to getting their water from illegally dug wells, further depleting resources. But the problem is not confined to Murcia and Alicante. Elsewhere in Spain, water reserves are only 41 per cent of total capacity and continue to fall at alarming rates.

Ecologists point to the priority which the Spanish authorities give to the property industry and golf courses. In Andalucia, an activist Antonio Figueroa claimed golf course owners were "favoured" by the Spanish authorities. "There is a true bias in the way they are treated. Despite the drought, they still get to use so much water," he said.