Reservoirs of Spain

Reservoirs of Spain

Drought is one of the phenomena that has hit Spain the most for a long time. Our climate makes us have low rainfall at the end of the year and concentrated in the winter season. With climate change and the increase in global average temperatures, we are noticing that drought cycles have intensified and lengthened. Therefore, reservoirs of Spain they play a fundamental role in the amount of water available both for human consumption and for other economic activities.

We are going to dedicate this article to tell you everything you need to know about the reservoirs of Spain and their main characteristics.

Construction of new reservoirs in Spain

The construction of reservoirs in Spain is something that dates back to ancient times. As the human being established himself in different communities, the need to store water was seen. Since technology was not as advanced as it is today, the morphology of the terrain had to be exploited even more. It is here where geology plays a fundamental role in the formation of reservoirs. Depending on the type of terrain and the predominant rock, dams of different sizes could be built. The topography of the terrain also had to be taken into account. The water courses and the flow that each one has served as food to fill the dams and store available water.

It was not until 1970 that the first inventory of Spanish dams was made. It was carried out by the Spanish National Committee on Large Dams (SPANCOLD) and was presented at the X International Congress on Large Dams, organized by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) in Montreal. The information contained in the inventories makes it possible to update the evolution of the number of dams in Spain throughout the XNUMXth century. It also helps to know the amount of water that we are able to store for later use.

Numerous information has been collected indicating that during In the last 25 years, Spain has built an exploitation tax over 200 dams. During the evolution of this past century it has been possible to analyze a very clear trend in the evolution of the construction of reservoirs. The first half of the 4th century I want to be characterized by an annual commissioning of approximately XNUMX dams. This is where the revolution began in the construction of infrastructures capable of storing water and altering the hydrological cycle.

On the other hand, we have the second half of the twentieth century where there is significant development in our country. And it is that this second half was the total revolution of the reservoirs of Spain. On the order of 20 dams per year were put into operation. As we entered the XNUMXst century, a growing trend also began to increase the number of dams.

Inventory of Spanish dams

It is the Ministry of the Environment and Rural Affairs which is currently in charge of keeping the inventories of Spanish dams up to date. In this ministry we can find a web portal where we have all the main characteristics and the location of the main reservoirs in Spain. Thanks to this information we can obtain data on the distribution of dams based on their typology, their height, the evolution in the number of reservoirs in Spain, the capacity of each one, etc.

It should be noted that the data that exist regarding the number of reservoirs in Spain has increased notably in recent decades. Many people wonder why swamps are no longer being built if the drought demanded the construction of new infrastructure for water storage.

Today there is no talk of dams or swamps, but rather the euphemism of regulatory works has been created. Spain It has been considered a world power in reservoirs with a quantity of 1.200. This places Spain as a leader in Europe. However, Spain is currently experiencing a time when new infrastructures of this type are not being created. And it is that the water regulations that were issued in Brussels and that have been in force since the beginning of this century, bet on the desalination of waters. There is also environmental pressure, economic crisis and the repeal of the national hydrological plan. All this situation has caused that public works are destined to other projects that is not the construction of new reservoirs in Spain.

It is also prioritizing the works that ensure that the channels do not generate more floods. Since rainfall in Spain occurs in a torrential way in many places it is dangerous for Carlos to run the rivers without prior treatment. Therefore, the key issue today is to externalize the works that affect the channels and the plains to be able to retain water artificially. This is how a more complex job is achieved in regulating than fitting a new container into national water management.

The problem of the grounding of the reservoirs of Spain

Reservoirs are known to greatly facilitate the management of water resources. They also allow obtaining hydroelectric energy and increasing irrigation areas in the basin, helping to control eventual floods. However, there is a risk of grounding the reservoirs. This ordering is nothing more than the accumulation of sediments in a natural way and that is accentuated by torrential rainfall.

Find out the degree of grounding of the reservoirs it is crucial to be able to know and correctly calculate the hydraulic reserves available throughout the country. The speed and degree to which this process occurs in the basins of the reservoirs depends on the climate of each region. It also depends on the geological structure, the topography of the land, the agricultural use, the amount of vegetation cover and the lithology of the reservoir itself. All these variables are those that determine the amount of sediments that are susceptible to falling transported after being eroded and ending up accumulated within the reservoir.

The subsequent accumulation of these sediments reduces the reservoir's capacity to store water. In the long term, these sediment regulation works are needed to keep the container useful.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about the reservoirs of Spain.


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