Orihuela Awards Contract for Long-Awaited Costa Water Reservoir

Orihuela Council has awarded the contract to build a second drinking water reservoir on the coast, a project intended to strengthen supplies for existing homes and support future development.

Cesyr Estudios y Construcción secured the contract with a bid of €1,874,398, around €470,000 below the tender budget. Four other companies competed for the work. The council says Cesyr’s bid also includes improvements, among them roof waterproofing, and an additional 24 months of warranty cover.

Construction is expected to take eight months. The reservoir will be built beside the existing facility in El Canal, Los Dolses, which dates from 1995. Like its neighbour, it will hold 6,000 cubic metres of drinking water, doubling the site’s storage capacity to 12,000 cubic metres.

The council says the additional capacity will increase the reserve available through the Peña de las Águilas water intake from approximately five hours to ten. That extra buffer should help maintain supplies if a breakdown or other disruption affects the system.

The project has been discussed for more than two decades amid concerns about the coast’s limited storage capacity and pressure on its water network. It was included in the council’s 2024 capital investment plans, but has taken time to reach the contract stage. Its estimated cost was reduced before the tender was issued, and the winning bid brought the price down further.

The new reservoir is the first phase of Orihuela Costa’s drinking water supply master plan, updated in 2023. The plan sets out infrastructure needed to improve storage, water flow and pressure for current residents and for homes envisaged under the municipality’s General Urban Development Plan.

The limits of the existing system have previously raised concerns about further building. In 2022, water and sewerage operator Hidraqua warned that it could not guarantee supply to all the developments then planned, which together included 21,314 new homes. It said the capacity to supply those projects had already been reached.

A larger second phase is being developed. It includes proposals for another drinking water intake, with an estimated investment of €15 million over four years. Plans also include a new connection from the Cartagena canal in PAU-21, a pumping station linked to the Taibilla Canals Association and associated infrastructure. These works are intended to provide another source of water and increase the volume available to the coast.

The adequacy of water infrastructure is particularly significant for major developments proposed in areas including La Regia, Cala Mosca and PAU-7. The reservoir will add storage, but the further connections and network improvements remain necessary to meet the wider aims of the master plan.

The debate also extends beyond water supply. Orihuela’s General Urban Development Plan dates from the 1990s, and subsequent changes to land-use rules have drawn criticism from opposition parties including the PSOE and Cambiemos. They have questioned further rezoning and the pace of development where public services and infrastructure have struggled to keep up.

The PP–Vox governing coalition has presented the reservoir as a long-term investment in the coast. Council representatives have acknowledged that it is one step in a broader programme, rather than a complete solution on its own. The effectiveness of that programme will depend on the delivery of the planned intake, pumping facilities and pipelines alongside the new

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