Canal de Isabel II derived 529.1 hm³ of water for supply in the hydrological year to September 30, 2026, the first time above 500 hm³ since 2011/12. Its 13 reservoirs began the new year on October 1 at 62.5% of capacity, or 590 hm³, 0.7 points below the average for the date.
A wet winter that did not last
Rainfall over 2025/26 was close to normal at 589.8 l/m², 4.7% below the historical norm. February 2026 alone delivered 369.6 hm³ of inflows, about half of the year's 739.4 hm³, and storage reached 88.2% at the start of April 2026. A year earlier, on May 21, 2025, the reservoirs had peaked at 917.3 hm³, 97.2% of their 943.51 hm³ capacity.
Demand is running higher
Consumption in 2026 up to the start of September was 8.8% above the same period of 2025, and September 2026 consumption was 12.6% higher than a year earlier. In calendar 2025 Canal derived 494.14 hm³, and per capita use was 193.4 liters a day, just under the 200-liter target in its Sustainability Plan 2024–2026.
A reserve the utility barely uses
Canal's 78 operational wells can supply up to 90 hm³ a year in drought. In 2025 they provided 1.40 hm³, or 0.28% of supply. Reclaimed water, 110.7 hm³ produced in 2024, mostly returns to rivers: only 14.99 hm³ was reused. The regional government states in Decree 29/2025 that river inflows to Canal's reservoirs fell by more than 25% over twenty years, and it expects about one million more residents within a decade.
The report sets out how Canal's reservoirs, groundwater and reuse work as one supply system, who sets its tariffs through 2030, and which parts of its €2,000 million plan add supply security and which do not. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Canal de Isabel II, is available for USD 499 at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/reports/water-systems-overview-canal-de-isabel-ii. For a free overview, read the Canal de Isabel II Utility Snapshot at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/utilities/canal-de-isabel-ii.