The new Ipalán groundwater gallery, which the Island Council undertakes by way of the Insular Water Council in the zone of Barranco Seco in San Sebastián de La Gomera, and which is included in the Insular Hydrologic Plan, produces sufficient outflow to supply more than 10.000 Gomeran citizens, according to the chairman Casimiro Curbelo. He stresses that the gallery has an insular character, and alludes to the need for improved municipal grid to avoid losses and optimize resources.

Curbelo explains that the benefits of this infrastructure, funded by the State Government with 9,8 million euros, will be extended to all boroughs of the island, as it frees supplies consumed today by the population of the capital to be allocated to other places. He also refers to the importance of a water distribution system for the whole island, as reflected by the Hydrological Plan of La Gomera, which addresses not only human consumption but also allows planning of agricultural needs.

“1.800 meters of the new gallery has already been drilled and joined since last summer to the network of urban water supply, providing high quality water, and the goal is to reach 2.000 meters, so that we only have a stretch of about 200 meters left, which if all goes well could be carried out between the months of April and May", Curbelo states. He also recalls the difficulties associated with drilling works and insists on the importance of the work developed by the Council to ensure efficiency in the use and management of this vital resource.

“So far the water produced by the Ipalán gallery has been used for urban supply, to which roughly 60.000 cubic meters has been allocated, and for irrigation, which has consumed some 250.000 cubic meters, but the water quality is so good that we can use it wholly for urban supply", he adds. The flow of water produced at the moment by the facility is between 35 and 45 liters per second, although it could remain in 25 liters when the work is complete.

"Still it would be possible to easily cover the needs of a population of more than 10.000 citizens, an amount which exceeds the number of residents of San Sebastián de La Gomera, a municipality to which the Island Council provides water for free”, Curbelo states and adds that in order to meet objectives it is indispensable to fix the municipal grid.

According to data from the Island Water Council, the current consumption of the potable water network in the insular capital is 60 liters of water per second, much higher than those 25 liters per second which is estimated the Ipalán gallery could eventually produce, but the calculations of the Council specify that 60 liters of water per second is equivalent to the consumption of a population of 21.000 inhabitants at the rate of 250 liters per person per day.

“If we bear in mind that the population of San Sebastián de La Gomera does not exceed 8.500 people, and that in larger cities such as Las Palmas 215 liters of water is supplied per person per day, we can ensure that the water network in the municipality has heavy losses which should be corrected, and that the actual consumption of the insular population is consistent with the production of the new Ipalán gallery, a work for the entire island that is becoming a reality with an investment from the State Government", Curbelo concludes.