Increasing the contribution of sediments in the final section of the Ebro river, until reaching the mouth, would serve to counteract the regression of the Ebro delta and guarantee its resistance to the effects of the climatic emergency, with the rise in sea level. The scientific community agrees when pointing out the sediments as one of the basic solutions for the protection of the Ebrense wetland. Much of the sediment is retained in the large reservoirs built upstream during the Franco regime to store water and produce electricity.
The environmental movement now requires Endesa, the company that manages the hydroelectric plants in the final stretch of the Ebro River, to allocate 25% of the total energy produced in the reservoirs to the preservation of the Delta. The electricity released by the company could be used to transport sediment downstream through the construction of “a hydrosuction bypass” in the Riba-roja and Mequinensa swamps. A technical solution to divert sediments and make them go downstream.
The contribution of sediments in the Ebro river is a structural response to the regression of the wetland
The Sediments Association staged its claim yesterday in front of the Dreta de l’Ebre Canal Regants Community. The entity calls for the involvement of the irrigators, also those on the left of the Ebro, two of the main actors in the management of the river’s water. The ecologists also ask the Ebrense and Catalan administrations to put pressure on the Government, with powers in the management of river water through the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE).
The Associació Sediments, which wants to make visible one of the historical demands for the preservation of the Ebro delta, has formally asked the Ministry for Ecological Transition for information about 25% of the reserve energy of hydroelectric plants, legally established in concession contracts .
Specifically, environmentalists demand to know if Endesa is complying with this requirement in the Mequinensa, Riba-roja d’Ebre and Flix reservoirs, between Ribera d’Ebre, in Catalonia, and Aragon. The Sediments Association asks to know how much energy Endesa has delivered to the State since the hydroelectric plants began to operate. They also request information about the use of the energy released, whether it is for government purposes or for the general electrical network.
Conservationists denounce that it has never been put into practice despite being included in the concession contracts. “We have a hydraulic bubble. Endesa laughs in the face of society, it has contractual obligations that it does not comply with. The payment or release of energy has been delayed for years,” says Josep Juan, spokesman for the Associació Sediments.
In addition to favoring the transport of sediments, they point out that 25% of the energy could be used for other preservation projects in the Ebro delta.
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