The extension of the Yesa reservoir is not entirely safe
- The report prepared by the company Geocuánticos, prepared by the former Government of Navarra, concludes that the right slope of the Yesa dam presents a series of uncertain and therefore unsafe circumstances.
The investigation began in 2018 with the aim of analysing the stability of the slope and producing a report on the security of the slope. Last October, the company handed over the report to the foral government, which has now submitted it to the authorities of the municipalities of the Yesa area and to the parliamentary groups.
All those who analysed it have concluded that the 900 pages report is very complex and the conclusions are very different according to what the assessment does. The Government of Navarre quickly stated on Monday that the hillside is in balance and that the seismic movements that have taken place in the area do not affect the viability of the reservoir.
In the news published this Tuesday by Diario de Noticias, however, security is questioned, as, among other things, the hillside continues to move. In fact, the report notes that the reservoir is currently in a “stable equilibrium”, but clearly indicates that the hillside is still moving, at this time 2 millimetres per month and occasionally 4 millimetres. That’s what he calls “stable balance.” This is an important issue, because in 2013, for example, after a heavy rain, the hillside moved 100 millimeters in just one month.
Security expropriations
The company that carried out the study notes that the response of the materials that make up the mazela to different situations is not exactly known and that therefore more detailed studies should be carried out.
In any event, security has always been a cause for concern since the project to expand the Yesa Reservoir was launched in 2001. Proof of this is that in 2013 100 families were expropriated from land and houses of their urbanizations –Tranquillity and Mirador de Yesa– by the movements shown by the hillside. In these expropriations, in other security and recognition works, EUR 55 million has already been spent.
113 to 500 million
Work on the extension of the reservoir started in 2003 and is expected to end in 2021. The initial cost of the project was EUR 113 million and this project is intended to build the largest reservoir of the Pyrenees. At present, the project budget has increased fourfold and is approaching EUR 500 million. The wall of the reservoir was 76 meters high and with this work has been extended by another 22 meters.
