It will probably go down in history as one of the infrastructures that has taken the longest to complete, but not because of its technical complexity but because of the changes introduced by the PP and PSOE governments. It is the Castrovido dam, a dam that comes to fulfill a dream 17 years later with a budget that has tripled to 250 million.
February 23, 2004 was called to be a designated day in the province of Burgos. After years shaping the project, construction work began on the long-awaited Castrovido dam (Burgos) to put an end to the overflow of the Arlanza River.
Built with a maximum elevation of 1,045 meters and a volume of 82 cubic hectometres, the dam was part of the National Hydrological Plan, and in 2004, during the first legislature of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the works began, which, with an initial investment of 75 million euros, it was expected that they would be finished in 2007. Reality, however, has totally upset the plans. The filling has taken 14 years longer than announced and the budget has more than tripled to reach 250 million euros.
The main cause is the continuous changes introduced by four different ministers, both from the PP and the PSOE, some of them more determined to paralyze the project than to finish it, as was the case with the socialist Cristina Narbona and the popular Isabel Tocino.
Added to this was the accident that occurred in October 2011, in which 4 workers died and that paralyzed work for two years.
Today, its commissioning began with the presence of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, with the aim of helping to mitigate the damage caused by floods, thus protecting the populations located downstream of the Arlanza basin “in a climate change scenario where flow fluctuations are expected to be increasingly accentuated,” says the Duero Hydrographic Confederation.
By regulating the Arlanza, the dam also ensures the maintenance of an adequate ecological flow, preventing the alteration of the ecosystem and guarantees the different uses for irrigation and demanded supply, with absolute respect for the fluvial ecosystem. The Secretary of State has toured this infrastructure together with the Government delegate in Castilla y León, Javier Izquierdo, the Government sub-delegate in Burgos, Pedro de la Fuente, and the president of the Duero Hydrographic Confederation, Cristina Danés, among other regional authorities and local.
Located in the municipality of Salas de los Infantes, one of the towns most affected by flooding during the flood season, the main Castrovido dam forms, with the current configuration of drainage organs, a reservoir with a maximum capacity of 44 hectometres. cubic.
This gravity dam, straight in plan, made of mass concrete, is 534 meters long at the crest and has a maximum height above foundations of 95 m. It has two intake towers, two spillways (lower and upper) and two bottom drains, as well as all the electromechanical elements necessary for its control, highlighting the complexity of the auscultation system provided for the control of the infrastructure.
new ecosystem
The environmental value of the action on the tail dam stands out, a cylindrical vault type dam, with an 8-span spillway, and 219 meters long at the crest; where, thanks to the maintenance of the constant level of the water sheet, an artificial lake of 104 hectares is created, which will allow harmonizing the coexistence of environmental, sports and recreational uses for public use.
This new ecosystem has artificial islands to favor the colonization of aquatic birds and a fish scale to recover the continuity of the fluvial system and guarantee the survival of endemic species; in addition to other recreational spaces for citizens such as an artificial beach, bird observatory, picnic area, jetty, trails or sport fishing posts.
Two years of filling
The filling process that has just begun is a complex and exhaustive process, necessary to reach the final exploitation phase of the dam, knowing and controlling its behavior. The filling will be progressive, with completion expected within two years, although it will be conditioned at all times both by the natural contributions of water from the catchment basin and by the action needs that may arise during the various phases of the filling.
The start of this commissioning occurs after the implementation of the Emergency Plan for the dam in the second half of last year 2020.
The CHD is also going to build wastewater treatment systems for the towns that discharge upstream of the Castrovido reservoir.
These projects are currently completing their administrative processing. The beneficiary localities are Regumiel de la Sierra, Canicosa de la Sierra, Quintanar de la Sierra, Vilviestre del Pinar, Palacios de la Sierra, Monasterio de la Sierra, Castrovido, Hacinas and Castrillo de la Reina.
Facebook Comments
Disqus