The almost dry Sau swamp still drains

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
14 February 2024 Wednesday 16:03
7 Reads
The almost dry Sau swamp still drains

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

The flow level of the Sau reservoir, which is at a historic low of 2.70%, is increasingly approaching absolute vacuum. Practically everything is dry, but even so, the image of the dam pouring water is surprising.

Almost a year ago, in March 2023, a plan was announced for the swamp to be drained. An action resulting from the serious state of drought that has been affecting the Catalan territory for more than two years.

According to the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), this protocol consisted of emptying the reservoir and directing its flow towards the Susqueda swamp, since both drink from the Ter river.

This operation was to guarantee the quality of water for domestic use in the region of Barcelona and Girona in the face of the risks derived from the decrease in resources in the Ter reservoirs. Bringing water from Sau to Susqueda responds to the purpose of increasing the volumes of the latter reservoir to have better quality water.

The Sau reservoir has such a low level of reserves that it could cause sludge to surface and degrade the quality of the water entering from the Ter River.

Now, as these photographs reflect in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos, if the level of the Sau reservoir continues to drop, in a short time it could be completely empty, given that, furthermore, it does not rain.