Environmental Justice
El Río Aguas is drying up
The village in which Sunseed sits - Los Molinos del Río Aguas - is in an important conservation area with a unique ecosystem. It is home to wild species, rich formations of gypsum and a host of environmental projects. El Río Aguas provides water for a population of roughly 50 people in Los Molinos and around 8000 local inhabitants in Almeria - but gradually our water is disappearing.
Industrial agriculture versus rights of the people
The precious fossil water from Río Aguas is being over-exploited by the surrounding monoculture olive plantations at quadruple the amount of available resources. Since illegal deep wells are being dug, there has been a 37L reduction to the flow of water in just a few years.
Without water there is no life
This highly unsustainable practice is threatening the livelihoods of many villages across Almeria. Pueblo-Gochar held 100 inhabitants in 2001, and by 2016 there were just four. If this pace of water use continues, Los Molinos will experience the same fate.
litres per day/per tree
percent aquifer over-exploitation
What are we doing to stop it?
In 2014, Ecologists in Action and Mediterranean Ecologist Group demanded immediate action be taken by the Junta de Andalucia to prevent further deterioration of the river. They were met with no response.
Since then, Sunseed, in collaboration with other residents and organisations in the area, have come together under Plataforma en Defensa del Río Aguas, working alongside Acuiferos Vivos, to fight for the rights of our water supply.
In 2017, the case of El Río Aguas was taken to the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature. Today we are continuing to campaign and raise vital funds via our annual water festival.