Spain unveils more drought relief measures

By Martin Roberts

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's government on Friday unveiled new measures to relieve the impact of the driest winter in memory, including diverting water between regions to ensure supplies to 2.5 million people in the parched southeast.

In addition to human consumption, Spain depends on water to irrigate crops and cut its heavy dependence on imported grain, as well as to boost hydroelectric output amid an official drive to promote renewable energy.

A statement issued after a weekly cabinet meeting said the Mediterranean coast as a whole had suffered the driest autumn and winter on record, but the government said the population was not at risk.

"Citizens can rest easy that water supplies will be firmly ensured," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told journalists after the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet agreed to allow 39 cubic hectometers to be diverted from the Tagus river basin in the north and west of Spain to the basin of the Segura, which flows into the Mediterranean on the southeast coast.

The Tagus flows through one of Spain's leading grain-producing regions, Castilla-Leon, while the Segura supplies Murcia, known as "the garden of Spain" for its horticulture.

SECOND TIME

It was the second time this year that the cabinet had taken steps to alleviate the drought. In February the government decided to choke outflow from dams and switch water between regions.