The Friends of Girona's Devesa Park association has warned that the summer watering system is leaving much of the park's tree cover without effective irrigation. It is asking Girona City Council to increase watering at once, saying water stress could affect the health of the plane trees in a park used daily by residents and visitors.

In a statement reported by Diari de Girona, the association described the current model as inadequate and insufficient for watering the whole park. It said the trees suffer clear water stress, particularly during summer.

Association says channels reach only part of the park

The group said the open irrigation channels used in summer do not cover most of the Devesa's surface. It said the channels are simple trenches opened only along part of Passeig de la Devesa and Passeig del Ter, with insufficient water flow and operation limited to a few hours a day.

Forestry engineer Narcís Motjé said that wet ground is not necessarily irrigated ground.

“Very many rows of plane trees are wetted by the water, but not irrigated, because that would require it to penetrate the soil and subsoil.”

The association said summer heat and a lack of rainfall are not the only causes of water stress, and argued that the situation could be reversed by action from the Ajuntament, Girona's city council.

Call to use more wells and increase water supply

According to the association, the park has eight wells capable of supplying water, but only the Montserrat well is operating and then only for a few hours each day. It also said the flow arriving from the Séquia Monar, the historic irrigation channel, is far below what it could be.

  • Put wells currently out of use back into operation.
  • Set out an irrigation network suited to the park's needs.
  • Improve water capture from the Séquia Monar.
  • Extend the Montserrat well's operating hours immediately.
  • Open the trenches needed to take irrigation water to unattended areas.

The group is also seeking a strategic, gradual and sufficient irrigation plan for the entire park, including a programme for areas that it says do not benefit from the current system.

City Council previously said watering ran six days a week

In a November 2025 article, Lluc Salellas i Vilar wrote that the park was watered six days a week during the hottest months using the Montserrat well, and that a second well was being prepared for use. He said the effects of the most recent drought were still difficult to predict.

The association's latest request is for the council to expand the Montserrat well's hours and extend irrigation to the parts of the Devesa it says are currently not being reached.

Primary sources: eb.girona.cat. Reported by diaridegirona.cat, Lluc Salellas i Vilar, ACN, Redacció, Narcís Motjé Surroca, Redacció, Tony Di Marino, Consorci del Ter, ACN, L. Artigas, L.A, oriol mas, Diari de Girona.