They want to end the expansion of the Esa reservoir by 2027
- The works began 22 years ago, but the construction of the reservoir has had many problems, and the works are still going on. In response to the request of Río Aragón, the Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, CHE, replies that the work is scheduled for completion in 2027.
The construction of this infrastructure consists of eleven chapters, one of the most significant being the one that took place in 2013: On the right side of the Yesa reservoir there was a landslide that forced the demolition of 103 houses built in the area.
Since then, eleven other studies have been carried out on the hillside and, although with significant nuances, in all of them the topic of mobility of these soils has been explained, with the risk that this may entail. As a result of all this, the project is now in its fourth adaptation, and asked about the Rio Aragón association fighting the dam, CHE replies: “The current implementation plan expires on 30 November 2027.” In that reply he said that work was currently under way on the fourth adaptation of the project and that, until its completion, it could not provide further information.
As explained in Arainfo, the Rio Aragón association has denounced that six years ago the fourth adaptation began and that CHE has not yet given significant reasons to explain the delay that is taking place. In any case, it specifies that these adaptations will be very complicated because “they will have to respond to problems that occur at a depth of 100 meters”.
For example, due to the torrential rains, the water entering through the soil cracks increases the instability of the slopes and Río Aragón says that they will have to rebuild some built reliefs to channel the waters that have undergone movements.
Libyan Marsh Disaster
Work began in 2001 and was due to end in 2005, but at the moment it is completed in 2027. They started with a budget of EUR 113 million, but it is already EUR 500 million. Now, moreover, the disaster caused by the floods and the fall of two dams in Libya has shaken the fear of the Yesa dam. According to Nadhir Al-Ansari, an engineer and expert in water resources, the breakdown of the dams in Libya should not only be sought in the floods, but in their management. In addition, disasters in reservoirs are sometimes also affected by construction errors.
Construction works have slowed down considerably in two decades, but they continue to move forward because the political leaders of the construction, the Government of Spain, consider that the movements taking place on the slopes are very small or reach a certain balance. In any case, according to another news report known in September, it has also been noted by satellite that the Yesa reservoir is unstable.
