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ARCHIVED - Fish are dying: No water at the UGOLF Mar Menor Golf resort in Torre Pacheco
The Murcia golf course is closed and the lakes drying up after the water supply was cut, but it is not clear why
Mar Menor Golf Resort Lake, Monday July 18, 2022
The Mar Menor is no stranger to mountains of dead fish. We all remember the images of fish washed up on the shores of the lagoon in summers past, and scientists are warning that efforts to reduce the amount of pollution in the Mar Menor are not enough to prevent another mass die-out.
But we’re not used to seeing dead fish in the ponds and lakes of golf resorts around the Mar Menor.
Yet that’s exactly what’s happening at the Mar Menor Golf resort in Torre Pacheco, run by golf operating company UGOLF.
The management of the golf course is not filling the lakes with water, and so far hundreds of fish have died.
For several months now, residents have been concerned about the deterioration of the golf course, which was closed for maintenance, according to the management of the resort, and the rest of the MM2 site.
According to the Commercial Director of UGOLF Murcia, they lack water both to be able to water the golf course and to fill up the lakes because “at the moment both the golf course and the community of Mar Menor have their water cut off” by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS).
This means they cannot water the golf course, turning it into more of a ‘brown’ than a ‘green’ and leading it to be closed since at least June 27, and more to the point, they cannot refill the lakes.
This means the water in the lakes is quickly heating up in the heatwave we are currently experiencing and oxygen levels in the water are dropping, causing the fish to die.
Dying fish and a lack of water also have an impact on the rest of the ecosystem, of course, including the birds who use the lake to eat, drink and bathe.
On Monday July 18 at 8.30am, there were hundreds of fish floating dead in the MM2 lake. By Thursday morning, most of them had been removed, but it is not known by whom.
Mar Menor Golf Resort Lake, Thursday July 21, 2022
According to one expat who has a property on the resort, “the front lakes on MM1 near the villas have had water pumped in” but the MM2 site is suffering as a “poor relation” of the first.
She lamented the “appalling” situation, and said it is “heartbreaking to see”.
Why is there no water for the Mar Menor Golf resort?
UGOLF have stated, “The CHS cut started more than a month ago, 6 or 8 weeks ago. Until last week we were using the water from the lake as usual, but for this reason it didn’t fill up again. Now we cannot use it because it is below the level of the pumps.
“The CHS is working to provide us with water as soon as possible. The problem is with the golf course and the general community,” said UGOLF.
But why was the water cut off in the first place? Neither the Region of Murcia nor the Mar Menor area are in a drought situation, and while the Segura reservoirs are only at 42.8% of their capacity, this should not be enough for the CHS to cut water supplies unilaterally.
Rather, water cuts normally happen if there is some infraction – either environmental or economic – which forces the CHS to cut off water to private entities, as they have already done in the past to farmers who irrigate their crops and wash nitrates into the Mar Menor lagoon.
One Mar Menor Golf resort resident on MM2 wondered if the rumor that the golf course and the hotel are for sale or have been sold might be behind the lack of water.
But UGOLF insist that, while “it is correct that the facilities have already been sold [and] the new owner will be presented in the next few weeks… the two things are not related, they just happened in consecutive months.”
However, the resident is unhappy with the lack of communication about what is happening, and why, and feels powerless to help.
“For us owners, it is difficult for us to intervene in this dispute which is to be settled between the various actors involved in the management of the resort,” he said.
UGOLF promises that when they have more news about the water supply they will communicate it to the residents. But why do they not have news about any formal notice that was given by the CHS, and for what reasons was the water supply cut off?All they will say is that “the resort is suffering from a problem related to the delivery of water” and that “it is not an easy solution”.
In the meantime, they say, in relation to their golf courses, “Our other courses at Saurines and HDA are open as usual and we have moved as many reservations as we can to accommodate them.”
How to save the fish in the Mar Menor Golf resort
As for the poor fish, UGOLF have said, “We are all aware of the situation in Mar Menor and we are all saddened by what is happening to the Fauna and Flora in the resort and on the golf course.”
The deaths of hundreds of animals is not a good look for anyone involved, and whoever is responsible, one thing’s for sure – it’s humans who are causing this tragedy. We are to blame.
As the property owner on the Mar Menor Golf resort put it, “the problem that concerns us here is the finding of the death of hundreds of fish in the lake and the sad sight of fish in search of oxygen.
“If fish could, like other animals, express their suffering through cries, I am convinced that we could not be deaf to their agony.”
There is no doubt that everyone wants to see the water turned back on again as soon as possible and for the fish to stop dying, but if it is still unclear who exactly gave the order to turn the water off and why, and what needs to be done in order to turn it back on again, then this may be an uphill battle.
“We don’t have a date to start irrigating,” say UGOLF. “As soon as they give us water, we will start irrigating the course again.”
For the hundreds of fish that have already died, there is no hope. But those many more that are left in the lakes right now and which are suffering from a lack of oxygen could be moved to other lakes, such as the ones on MM1 that still have plenty of water.
UGOLF say that all they can do now is replace the dead fish with new ones once the situation is eventually sorted out: “We hope that we will soon get the water back in and we will be able to put fish back in like we used to. We are looking for a solution to this problem, but it does not depend on us, we are waiting for the Confederación Hidrográfica de Murcia.”
The CHS has not responded to requests for a comment.
Images: Gérard Philippot
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