This irrigation campaign, which began in the spring, is the first in which the Irrigation Community of the Huerta del Ebro, in Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza), has made use of the new section of its network adapted to the risk of flooding, more efficient, moreover, in which losses and maintenance have been reduced.
Although during the phased construction process provisional irrigation systems were set up to attend to users, this summer is the first in which the water flows through the 2.3 kilometers of the new pipeline, further away from the riverbed and underground, thus avoiding the effects and supply cuts that used to occur systematically with breaks due to river flooding. This infrastructure directly irrigates 77.9 hectares.
This pilot action of the Ebro Resilience is included in the general framework of the future action of land consolidation and integral improvement of the 1500 ha of the Huerta del Ebro in which the combined solutions for the adaptation to floods of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project in the Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro section has been integrated. It has been executed by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of the Government of Aragon through the public company TRAGSA, with a budget of 1,156,749.93 euros.
The objective of the works has been to move the existing irrigation network away from the defense dike and change from an open ditch in the ground to a buried concrete pipe. Thus, together with a greater adaptation to the flooding phenomena of the Ebro River, by preventing the irrigation ditch from being an obstacle to the flow of water, the efficiency of the irrigation system has also been increased, reducing losses and maintenance work.
As in all Ebro Resilience actions, the involvement of stakeholders has been crucial. In this case, the commitment of the Huerta del Ebro irrigation community and its Governing Board to these novel and complex interventions for the adaptation and recovery of river space and lateral flow buffer zones stands out. All of them were approved by its General Assembly, which has given impetus to the proposals of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project.
Phases and pending intervention
The works have been carried out in two phases so as not to affect users. The first, 1.3 km, between November 2023 and April 2024 and the second, with the remaining kilometer, between October 2024 and April 2025. All that remains to be done in the area is to level the affected farmland.
Remaining Zone 2 shares
In this section Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro, the rest of the interventions defined for the adaptation of flood risk are still being carried out.
- Recovery of the fluvial space, eliminating and moving away defenses of the riverbed in the mejana del Conde and the meander of Aguilar. In execution by the Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, dykes are being removed (1,020 and 2,035 meters) and others are being built further away from the riverbed (998 and 1,598 meters), gaining 20 hectares for the river where environmental restoration and recovery of riparian forest will be carried out. The Government of Aragon will carry out an environmental restoration in this recovered space, once the mote recessing has been completed.
- Creation of the Lateral Flow Buffer Zones (LFBAZ) are a succession of temporary flood areas. During the Ebro River floods, the areas are pre-flooded in a controlled manner and create “water mattresses”. There, water passes over water and, as it does not impact on rigid elements and surfaces, damage and erosion are reduced. Under execution by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation.