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ARCHIVED - Geologist advocates pumping nitrates out of the Campo de Cartagena aquifer to save the Mar Menor
This is the most effective way of decontaminating the marine environment says Murcia University professor
In recent months the problems faced by the Mar Menor, where the marine environment has deteriorated over the years due in large part to the runoff of fertilizers containing nitrates from the crop fields of the Campo de Cartagena, have understandably been relegated to the background in terms of media coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, but this week another suggested solution has been put forward by an eminent expert in hydrogeology.
José Luis García Aróstegui of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, who is also a professor at the University of Murcia and was one of those supporting the creation of environmentally friendly belt around the Mar Menor, believes that the solution to the situation in the lagoon could lie in pumping water out of the massive aquifer which lies below the Campo de Cartagena. In the short term, he believes that to extract the water from the aquifer and then remove the nitrates it contains would be the most effective way of “de-contaminating” it and preventing more harmful substances from making their way into the Mar Menor.
However, in order to maximize the efficacy of such an approach it would be necessary to calculate the optimum volume of water to be extracted and exactly where to pump it from, ensuring that the water which continues to flow towards the lagoon makes the situation sustainable.
In addition, Sr García Aróstegui admits that the quantity of nitrates already in the Mar Menor is such that it would take some time for the effects on the marine environment to become noticeable in terms of a reduction in nitrate content.
The hydro-geologist explains that the contamination of aquifers with nitrates from fertilizers has become a problem in various parts of Europe, and that although crop farming is the principal cause, high nitrate content can also be attributed in part to cattle farming, urban development and mining activity.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the contamination of aquifers is not easy to detect as the results usually become apparent very gradually, and that de-contamination is usually a long and costly process which on some occasions can become unfeasible for technical and economic reasons.