Water reserves remain at 44% in the Balearic Islands

PalmWater reserves remained at 44% in October, the same level as the previous month and two percentage points lower than the figure recorded a year ago (46%). In a press release, the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle reported that October ended with water reserves at 44% in the Balearic Islands, the same value as the previous month. By island, Mallorca's reserves decreased from 45% to 44%; Menorca's from 41% to 43%; and Ibiza's from 26% to 39%. The overall situation in the archipelago is two percentage points lower than that recorded a year ago (46%). These figures show a notable improvement in Ibiza and Formentera, coinciding with the rainfall associated with Storm Alice. There were no changes in the overall situation compared to the previous month. Thus, only one demand unit (Formentera) remains within the normal scenario, six units (Menorca, Manacor-Felanitx, Migjorn, Palma-Alcúdia, Tramuntana Nord, and Tramuntana Sud) are within the pre-alert scenario, and three (Pla, Artà, and Ibiza) are on alert.

The Ministry has deemed it appropriate to reiterate that scenario changes are not automatic, but rather require a sustained evolution of the index over a minimum period. In the event of a move from alert to pre-alert, the demand unit must maintain values within the pre-alert range for at least two consecutive months. Therefore, although Ibiza has significantly improved its reservation levels, it must maintain this trend over the coming weeks to confirm the scenario change.

The overall value of the Hydrographic Demarcation index stands at 0.349, a figure lower than that of a year ago (0.399) and also lower than that of two years ago (0.441). According to data from the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), October was considered normal overall in terms of rainfall, with an average of 80.4 l/m² compared to the usual 74.9 l/m². By island, Mallorca was classified as normal (71.3 l/m² compared to 79.2 l/m²); Menorca as normal (58.3 l/m² compared to 66.2 l/m²); and Ibiza (174.4 l/m² compared to 60 l/m²) and Formentera (97.2 l/m² compared to 43.9 l/m²) as very wet. On October 11, during the passage of Storm Alice, record daily rainfall was recorded at Ibiza Airport (89.4 l/m²) and Formentera (78.8 l/m²), the highest values since records began. The year-on-year rainfall percentage stands at 95% (Mallorca 92%, Menorca 87%, and Pitiusas Islands 139%), a figure that reflects a significant recovery on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera after several months of rainfall deficit. Regarding temperature, October was classified as warm throughout the archipelago, with an average temperature of 19.6 °C and an anomaly of +0.7 °C compared to the climatic average. Given the current situation and the time of year, an increase in reservoir levels is expected during November, especially if rainfall maintains its typical autumn pattern.