Case Study 1: Matarraña River Basin - Euwareness

Torre del Compte
Dam
Location High basin
Capacity
Water origin
Total cost
Environmental impact
Timing
Alternatives for the regulation of the Matarraña river basin
54
El Pontet Dam Pumping from
the Ebro
Lateral pools
Middle Low basin Middle-Low basin
23.5 hm3 7hm3 Not precise 2.2 + 1hm3
Matarraña river,
rainfalls and
springs
5,017 million
pesetas
Matarraña river,
rainfalls and
springs
Ebro river Ebro and
Matarraña rivers
Not Known 3,000 million Less than 2,000
pesetas
million pesetas
High Middle low low
large Middle low low
Along 1999 the social conflict is still prevailing but first signs of reaching consensus
appeared giving hope to the possibility of reaching an agreement on a unique solution
for the whole basin. In February, the higher basin decided to give support to the project
of pumping water form the Ebro river proposed by the municipalities of the lower basin
(Fabara and Nonaspe) . Along this period, Maella (middle basin) also decided to
support this project as an urgent measure to solve water scarcity problems. However
this did not represent a complete agreement among the three parts of the basin. City
councils and representatives of the irrigation communities were reluctant because they
thought its total cost would be excessive. The higher basin kept proposing other
regulating alternatives such as the Pontet dam or the construction of lateral pools.
Nevertheless, the higher basin agreed on the creation of a commission for the study of
different regulation projects in the Matarraña river basin with representatives of the
three parts of the basin.
As the spring and summer time was about to come water scarcity appeared again as a
major problem. The Pena dam capacity was only the 7% and the water stored had to
cover water demands of the 2,400 ha. of irrigated lands, the cattle raising, drinking
water and other illegal wires. The critical scarcity situation provoked internal conflict
between the middle and the lower basin in relation to the pumping project of Ebro
waters. There also were conflicting positions among the basin actors and the
representatives of the regional policy parties. The solutions proposed by the regional
government and the local actors were clearly different.