The initiative, named Futuraqua and promoted by DCOOP, aims to utilize the water currently discharged into the sea by the Guadalhorce and Peñón del Cuervo treatment plants in Málaga city. These facilities currently treat about 60 cubic hectometers of water annually, a figure expected to rise to 66 with the future EDAR Norte. Of this volume, 46 cubic hectometers per year would be allocated for agricultural irrigation, with the remaining 20 reserved for green areas, golf courses, and a combined-cycle power plant.
The concession request has been divided into two applications because the members' plots are spread across two different river basins. The petition to the state-run Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation covers 10,958 hectares, while the one submitted to the Southern Hydrographic Confederation (Mediterranean Basin, under the Junta de Andalucía) adds 27,906 hectares, totaling 38,864 hectares.
The project involves the installation of double pipelines, each one meter in diameter, buried underground and equipped with pumping stations and photovoltaic plants. One of the conduits would serve as a reserve to supply the population in case of severe drought. Two alternative routes are being studied: one along the Guadalhorce riverbank (the cooperative's original proposal) and another through the Valle de Abdalajís, which would be more costly due to a greater elevation difference.
The estimated investment for this infrastructure amounts to 800 million euros, a significant portion of which will be allocated to the pumping facilities, including six main reservoirs with a combined power of 35 megawatts.
