Segura River Project was an engineering, legal and sustainable plan to restore the river and supply reclaimed water to agriculture, developed by the Regional Water Department, with the participation of the Segura River Authority, town councils and European Union funds. Between 2001 and 2010 one hundred treatment plants and 350 km of wastewater collecting system were built. In addition, a wastewater reclamation levy was established to finance the operation, maintenance and monitoring of these systems, applying the principle of “the polluter pays”.
The Segura River Project included the construction of a new treatment plant in the Borough of Molina. The reclaimed water from this new infrastructure was stored in five artificial ponds before its use in irrigation. This continuous flow of water created a rich ecosystem called the Campotejar wetland. The project also included the construction of the Mazarrón treatment plant which gave rise to the Las Moreras wetland, thanks to an artificial pond that stores the reclaimed water, which then flowed into the Las Moreras dry river (the treatment plant was in the central western part of the wetland).
The basic reference plan of the Segura River Project was the “Master Plan for Urban and Wastewater Sanitation and Treatment in the Murcia Region 2001-2010”. However, the most innovative aspect of the project and what made it pioneering in Spain and Europe was the use of the reference values of the Title 22 of the Californian Water Code (1978) to the wastewater tertiary treatment. These criteria had deserved worldwide scientific recognition and was only included in the Spanish water law years after the Segura’s plan. A stringent pollution removal policy like the Californian one was critical to the Segura River Basin, because here treatment was as important as reuse, due to the lack of water. The application of this framework allowed the Segura‘s flow to increase by direct discharge of treated water, hence the improvement of ecosystem conditions and, additionally, more water for irrigation.
The Segura River Project plan was carried out by many stakeholders (Murcia Regional Government, Segura River Basin Authority and town councils), owing to shared responsibilities between administrations in the Spanish water policy. The Regional Water Department (Dirección General del Agua or DGA) fell under the jurisdiction of the Murcia Regional Government. Within the scope of its authority, the DGA managed the treatment plants and the wastewater collection system, as well as the Wastewater Reclamation Levy. The wastewater treatment was originally a responsibility of town councils, but a regional law was passed to transfer it to the regional agency Esamur, due to budget problems in small villages.