The current situation in which the water reserves are located in the Hydrographic Confederation of the Sugar, as a result of the lack of rainfall, determines that the demands with the reserves cannot be adequately covered. existing in the systems of exploitation of the demarcation.

The hydrological year 2013/2014 has been extremely dry from the point of view of the meteorology, being the accumulated precipitation in the territorial scope of the confederation inferior to the collection in the last 23 years. The cumulative precipitation this year has been about 281 mm while the average annual value in those years is about 439 mm.

As a result, in December 2014, the High Marine, Vinalopo-Alacanti and Serpis systems are in the emergency scenario, of which the first two do not have regulating reservoirs and mainly use underground resources and the third combines surface water with underground resources. The Palancia-Los Valles system and the Baja Marina system are in the alert scenario and the rest of the systems, except for the Júcar that is normally, are in the pre-alert scenario. The situation of the scenarios in the operating systems would be even worse, if not for the good state of storage in which some of the reservoirs were located in early October 2013.

The declaration of drought in the territorial scope of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Júcar is carried out in this royal decree in compliance with the provisions of article 27 of Law 10/2001, of July 5, of the Hydrological Plan National, and taking into consideration the state of the systems of exploitation of the demarcation according to the Global System of Hydrological Indicators of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, which integrates the indicators of state defined in the Special Plans of Action in a situation of alert and eventual drought in the basins intercommunity, approved according to Order MAM/698/2007, of 21 March, in compliance with the provisions of Law 10/2001 mentioned above.

Special drought plans have meant a substantial change in the planning and management of these natural phenomena, and have served as a methodological reference for the formal declaration of drought situations in Spain. The special drought plan of the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar has been and is, therefore, effective in the detection of situations of scarcity and has allowed to activate in sufficient time, the scheduled commissioning of management actions directed to the prevention and mitigation of its impacts to minimize the deterioration of the public hydraulic domain.

The hydrological drought situation in the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation requires, on the one hand, to adopt temporary measures to allow an increase in available water until the levels of the reserves improve and, on the other hand, to take the necessary administrative measures to correct this situation as far as possible by limiting and restricting the use of the benefits in a fair and solidarity manner between all the sectors concerned. It will also be necessary to seek a balance between the use and protection of the water bodies and to implement the necessary corrective measures.

To that end, and without prejudice to the exercise of the powers provided for in Article 55 of the Water Law, Article 58 of the current recast text of the Water Law, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 1/2001, of 20 July, it empowers the government to adopt, by means of royal decree and in circumstances of extraordinary droughts, such as those currently given in the territory of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Júcar, the measures that are precise in relation to the use of the hydraulic public domain, even if it has been granted, for the purpose of overcoming of circumstances of need, urgency, anomalous or exceptional.

According to this, this royal decree aims to provide the hydraulic administration with the normative instruments that allow it to proceed with the management and protection of water resources in the most convenient way for the general interest.

To do this, the governing bodies of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Júcar are awarded a cast of extraordinary faculties, among which the authorization to the Board of Government of the Confederation of Hydrographic to modify the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain whatever the legal title has given place to that use and to establish the reductions of water supply that are precise for the just and rational distribution of the available resources, limiting the concessional rights to these (a) the allocation of resources, as well as the adaptation of the ecological flows laid down in the river basin management plan, where their application puts the guarantee of supply to the stocks at risk, and the other, the enabling of the The Hydrographic Confederation to agree the realization or to impose the execution of those actions that are necessary for a better management of the water resources, as well as to execute works of capture, transport or adaptation of infrastructure.

The procedures linked to the execution of the royal decree are declared as urgent, under the provisions of Article 50 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, of the Legal Regime of the Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure, and at the same time, simplified procedures for the modification of the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain, central element to ensure the effectiveness of this exceptional regulation, ensuring in any case the necessary participation and audience of the stakeholders.

The sanctioning regime is strengthened in relation to the violations committed in relation to the exceptional measures included in the royal decree, in order to provide the competent bodies with powers commensurate with the gravity of the situation, in the interest of the public interest.

On the other hand, and taking into consideration the low water reserves existing in most of the systems of exploitation of the territorial scope of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Júcar, so that all these measures can be indeed, the period of application of this royal decree will be extended from its entry into force until 31 December 2015.

The performance of works and other technical actions that are necessary as a consequence of the declaration of Drought that is established in this royal decree, must be financed according to the current regulations.

In the elaboration of this royal decree the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar has been heard.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, according to the State Council, and after deliberation of the Council of Ministers at its meeting on May 8, 2015,

DISPONGO:

Article 1. Object and territorial scope.

This royal decree aims to declare the drought situation in the territorial scope of the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar and establish the exceptional administrative measures for the management of water resources. to mitigate the effects of drought.

Article 2. Powers of the Governing Board and the Presidency of the Hydrographic Confederation of Júcar.

1. The Governing Board shall be a Permanent Commission, chaired by the Chairman of the Hydrographic Confederation, and of which the Commissioner of Water, the Technical Director, the Head of the Office of Hydrological Planning, a representative of each of the Ministries of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Industry, Energy and Tourism, and Economy and Competitiveness, a representative of each affected autonomous community whose territory is situated in the the Hydrographic Confederation and one representative for each of the following user groups: energy supply and use, and two representatives of the irrigation group, of which at least one will be from the operating systems that are in the worst state under the Special Alert and Eventual Drought Plan.

The representatives will be appointed among the members of each group within the Governing Board, on the proposal of the majority of the members of each of the groups. The President of the Hydrographic Confederation shall appoint the Secretary of the Commission among its members.

They will also participate in the Permanent Commission, with a voice but without a vote, a representative of the associations and organizations of defense of environmental interests, two of the most important trade union and business organizations. representative and one of the local authorities whose territory is wholly or partly in accordance with that of the river basin district, designated by the President of the Hydrographic Confederation, on a proposal from the respective groups.

2. It corresponds to the Standing Committee:

(a) Temporarily modify the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain whatever the enabling title has been entitled to that use, and in particular:

1. To reduce water supply allocations that are accurate to rationalize the management and use of water resources.

2. Modify the criteria of priority for the allocation of resources to the different uses of water, respecting in any case the supremacy of the use recorded in the article 60.3.1. º of the Law of Waters, approved by the Royal Decree Legislative 1/2001 of 20 July.

3. To temporarily modify the allocations and reserves provided for in the regulations of the hydrological plan of the Hydrographic Demarcation of the Júcar, approved Royal Decree 595/2014, of July 11.

4. Impose the replacement of all or part of the concessional flows by others of different origin and of appropriate quality for the use to which it is intended, in order to rationalize the use of the resource and to give compliance with the ecological flow rate regime set out in the hydrological plan.

5. Modify the conditions set out in the discharge authorizations, to protect public health, the state of the resources and the water environment and the associated land systems.

6. To adapt the system of exploitation of the hydroelectric harness to the needs, in order to make them compatible with other uses.

(b) A situation of temporary deterioration of the state of one or more of the water bodies may also be permitted under the conditions and requirements laid down in Article 8 of the Demarcation Hydrological Plan. Hydrographic of the Júcar.

3. The Presidency of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation is empowered to:

(a) Adopt all measures to be precise for the effective implementation of the agreements adopted by the Standing Committee.

(b) To agree to the performance or to impose the execution of those works of control or measure of flow and evolution of the bodies of groundwater that are necessary for a better management of the resources, as well as to execute works for the collection, transport or adequacy of infrastructure.

Article 3. Processing of the procedures affected by the application of the exceptional measures.

1. The processing of the procedures affected by the application of the exceptional measures provided for in this royal decree will be of an urgent nature, in accordance with the provisions of Article 50 of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992. Legal framework for public administrations and the common administrative procedure. By virtue of this, all the time limits laid down in those procedures shall be reduced by half, except those relating to the presentation of resources.

2. The processing of the modification procedures under the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain shall be carried out as follows:

(a) The procedure shall be initiated on its own initiative by the competent body, which shall be notified to the parties concerned.

b) The report and the elaboration of the proposed modification will be carried out by the Water Commissioner.

c) The audience to the stakeholders will be reduced to the five-day deadline.

d) The approval of the proposal will be the responsibility of the Permanent Commission, and the resolution must be motivated.

e) The Presidency of the Hydrographic Confederation will take the necessary measures to make effective the resolution of modification of the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain.

3. The resolution adopted will determine the modification of the conditions of use of the hydraulic public domain until it is expressly revoked or this royal decree is maintained in force.

Article 4. Amendment of the rules of precedence in contracts for the transfer of rights of water uses.

The holder of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, under the provisions of Article 67.2 of the recast text of the Water Law, may authorize, on a temporary and exceptional basis, the the use of water which does not respect the order of preference defined in the hydrological plan or in Article 60.3 of the abovementioned standard, while respecting the supremacy of the use entered in the first paragraph of Article 60.3.

Article 5. Commissioning and running probes.

The Presidency of the Hydrographic Confederation is empowered to authorize the start-up of any survey, whether or not it is a lifting facility, or not, to permit the provisional contribution of the new resources. This power includes putting into service existing surveys or the execution of new ones to the extent that they are essential to obtain sufficient flow rates to meet the most urgent demands and to provide resources for the maintenance of the system of ecological flows in rivers and wetlands, as laid down in the hydrological plan. Such surveys will cease to be used in an ordinary way when the conditions of scarcity disappear and, under no circumstances, will generate new concessional rights.

In the event that the conduct of these surveys will lead to some cost, this would be financed from the ordinary credits of the Hydrographic Confederation itself.

Article 6. Sanctioning regime.

1. The failure of the users to comply with the measures to reduce the supply of water to be adopted pursuant to Article 2.2.a of this royal decree shall be understood to constitute an administrative infringement of the type defined in Article 116.3.c) of the recast text of the Water Law, and the corresponding sanction shall be imposed to its maximum degree, in consideration of its special impact on the order and use of the public hydraulic domain.

2. The derivation of water from its channels and the lighting of groundwater, without the corresponding concession or authorization when it is accurate, constitutes an administrative infringement of Article 116.3.b) of the recast text of the Water Law, and the The corresponding sanction, during the period of application of this royal decree, will be imposed to its maximum degree, in attention to its special impact on the order and use of the hydraulic public domain.

3. The Júcar Hydrographic Confederation may directly implement the repair and replacement measures adopted in the relevant resolutions of the sanctioning files. The amount of such measures shall be borne by the offenders and may be required by the administrative route of the award.

Article 7. Relations with the Government Delegations.

The Presidency of the Hydrographic Confederation will communicate to the Government Delegates in the autonomous communities affected by this royal decree the actions to be carried out in order to achieve the measures contained in the.

Additional disposition first. Public expenditure.

1. The creation and operation of the Standing Committee of the Drought will be addressed with the resources assigned to the administrative bodies and public bodies represented in it, therefore they will not entail any increase in public expenditure.

2. The measures included in this rule may not result in an increase in appropriations or in remuneration or other personnel costs.

Additional provision second. Subordination of the measures that may be taken to the Hydrographic Demarcation Hydrographic Plan.

The provisions of Articles 2.2 to 5 of this Royal Decree shall be without prejudice to the fact that none of the measures to be adopted in their application may depart from the general regulation of situations of prolonged drought. provided for in Articles 8.1 and 19.2 in conjunction with Articles 10.1, 12 and Appendix 6.1 of the Hydrological Plan of the Júcar Hydrographic Demarcation Approved by Royal Decree 595/2014 of 11 July 2014, and may not alter the preference in the actions that are foreseen in it when one of the Systems for which the said Plan previews actions or measures to be undertaken or carried out in cases of prolonged drought, unless adequately motivated or unable to address them as a matter of urgency.

Final disposition first. Competence title.

This royal decree is issued under article 149.1.22. of the Spanish Constitution, which attributes to the State exclusive competence in matters of legislation, management and the granting of resources and hydraulic exploitation when Water flows through more than one autonomous community.

Final disposition second. Regulatory enablement.

The head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment is empowered to make the necessary provisions for the development and implementation of this royal decree.

Final disposition third. Temporary validity.

This royal decree will take effect until December 31, 2015.

Final disposition fourth. Entry into force.

This royal decree will enter into force on the day of its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid, on May 8, 2015.

FELIPE R.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment,

ISABEL GARCÍA TEJERINA