News: AUGUST 2024 LAKE UPDATE

Dear owners,

The purpose of this communication is to inform about the Ornamental Lake current situation and for you as owners to have all the existing information relating this issue, including all the past or recent efforts made by the Board and the Administration of Condado de Alhama.

Although the conditions under which the lake is directly affects La Isla – making up 11% of the properties in Condado – it is important to remember that the lake belongs to the Urban Entity and that its maintenance, good state of conservation and potential modifications are the responsibility of all owners, as is the good condition of the rest of the infrastructures such as roads, sanitation and rainwater pipes or hydrant network.

Until two years ago, the Ornamental Lake had been kept in good condition, with the first problem to be faced being that of rantelles or midge flies, which appeared in the summer of 2022. Since then, we have worked with different companies and experts to find solutions aimed at improving both the quality of the water and the ecosystem formed by the lake and its surroundings.

As you know, the current situation of the Ornamental Lake is the result of a multitude of factors that could be summarized in the impoverishment of the quality of the lake's wate, which is worsened even more by the scarcity of this resource in the Region of Murcia, and particularly this year, due to the high temperatures and almost null rainfall throughout the region and Condado de Alhama. The current problem is therefore a supervening situation whose occurrence and possible consequences were impossible to ponder when this problem began to be addressed.

The lack of rainfall this year has put Condado in a critical situation and affects both the lake and the landscaped areas. The maximum total annual water supply of the desalination plant, which is normally used for irrigation, is 180,000m3 and this figure may be even lower depending on the restrictions. The volume of the ornamental lake is 180,000 m3 as well, so without rainfall, it is very difficult to maintain the water level in the lake.

On August 5, the Board of the Urban Entity, the Administration and a group of owners of La Isla met with the executive and technical team of Alhama Council to set agreements and a roadmap to solve the problem.

You can find more information by visiting this link: ORNAMENTAL LAKE SITUATION (condadoalhama.com)

Due to the restrictions, there is a maximum monthly quota so until September we will not be able to introduce water into the ornamental lake again and, even so, this small contribution is not a solution to the problem. The higher the temperature and the shallower the depth of the lake are, the greater is evaporation, so if the temperatures remain high in September, after tis water is added it is likely to evaporate, producing the annoying smell again.

For months, the Board and the Administration have been working on the different options that could be proposed to tackle this problem definitively, making profitable the high investment that would be needed.

As of today, all the companies consulted confirm that there are no solutions that can be implemented immediately to solve a problem on which the Board and the Administration have been working since 2023. At this time, after the assessment of all the options that have been proposed over time, some of the existing solutions that are being evaluated by the Board of the Urban Entity are the following:

• Suction of the mud from the Lake – Option 1: It would be carried out by pumps installed on floating platforms. The cost is € 210,000.00 (VAT not included). Budget received on January 9, 2024 and included on La Isla’s last Annual General Meeting supplementary reports held in February 2024. The advantage of this option is that the waterproof membrane of the lake wouldn’t be damaged. The drawback is that this method requires a minimum depth of 1.20 meters of water for the pumps to work. It is not possible to undertake this solution at this time due to the current depth of 20 cm. In addition, the sludge transport and dumping fee would have to be added. For all these reasons, this option was one of the possibilities that was proposed to be discussed in a future Meeting of Owners waiting for the increase in the volume of water in the lake.
• Suction of the mud from the Lake – Option 2: A company visited the lake to prepare the budget for vacuuming the sludge using hoses connected to pumps. The hoses would be manouvered by operators. The advantage of this solution was that it is not necessary to provide water to the same extent as in Option 1. It would be enough to maintain a relative fluidity of the sludge so that the pumps could suck it up. On the other hand, the supplier advised against carrying out the work in the summer months due to the additional inconvenience that the suction work would cause to the neighbors, since the movement of the mud would produce an increase in the odors generated, so it is preferable to wait until the last months of the year. Regarding this option, we are waiting to receive both the economic proposals and the confirmation of their viability
• Engineering and environmental consultancy for the development of an action plan in accordance with actual needs of management and maintenance of the ornamental lake: The characteristics and scope of this situation require the intervention of a group of experts with a level of specialization high enough to assess the current conditions and to be able to propose holistic solutions, avoiding isolated and independent actions. In the information package of the meeting of February 2024, reference was made to different measures adopted until that moment and implementable in the future, the result of which would not have been entirely satisfactory because the problem was not contemplated with the required scale and in a holistic way. The installation of floating islands, ultrasonic emitters and bat boxes or the recirculation of the lake to name a few, need to be part of a program sized according to all the conditioning factors that intervene and not separately.

As we reported in the previous communication, we are waiting for a firm offer to undertake short term actions and working on medium and long-term solutions. After what has happened in recent days, support has been requested again from Alhama Council.

In the medium term, the intentions are, on the one hand, to develop a global project for the restitution of the good condition of the ornamental lake and its adaptation to be sustainable in the future, how to achieve it and what annual budget is needed to achieve both objectives. On the other, negotiating with farmers and companies in the area to try to obtain water from their concessions.

In the long term, the progress and the project would be presented at the Annual General Meeting so that it can be voted on by the owners, as well as decide on its implementation and financing.

In any case, the Administration is fully available to call an Extraordinary General Meeting of the entities directly involved once sufficiently solid information or options are available to discuss about and vote on.

We are working to be able to offer viable alternatives in the coming days. We remain at your disposal for any questions or clarifications you may need in this regard.