It is a bureaucratic text, but it looks like a letter of complaint. It says that the sensors that monitor the safety of the hundreds of dams that make up the State network “have been neglected for years.” That is why “little is known about its behavior and that of its foundations.” That this must be corrected “in the most urgent way possible.” And that the facilities are “missing the train that leads to having modern communications.” The complaints, collected by , which has published the tender for a contract of 1.2 million euros to promote a pilot program that acts on ten unidentified dams, resonate in the context of the damage that hit the Valencian Community in 2024: the Forata dam, which at that time had 35,632 cubic hectometers above sea level, was on the verge of collapse. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has confirmed to EL PAÍS that the ten dams that will be part of the study have not been decided.
Spain is a water power, of which 1,300 are considered large. Of them, 375 are state-owned. However, the situation of the latter has risks: a third (112) need urgent structural reinforcements, 65% need to renew or replace their monitoring and surveillance systems, 50% must rehabilitate bottom drains, and three out of four do not have emergency plans. This is the analysis made by the Association of Road, Canal and Port Engineers () to , in response to what it calls for increasing investment in these infrastructures and creating an independent Dam Safety Council. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition defends that “it has promoted numerous actions aimed at reinforcing the safety of the existing dams in our country.”
But the data is what it is. It is over 60 years old and more than a third is over 40, according to information from the government itself, which is now focusing on achieving improvements in a dozen, without clarifying what they are at the time of publication of this article.
The project includes modernizing the old dams by reviewing sensors, data and procedures to ensure their safety. At the same time, it is a cry of dissatisfaction with the signature of the head of the dam area, and the support of the general director of Water, according to documentation seen by EL PAÍS.
State dams require “a thorough review, not only in relation to the state of their monitoring systems, but also with the needs to implement new sensors in accordance with the state of the art in this matter and with current technologies,” it reads. “Everything indicates that it is necessary to undertake a major investment program to adapt the monitoring systems of state-owned dams,” it continues. And he laments: “It is likely, given the existing situation, that a frontal attack on the set of problems would be uninspiring in its results, due to the enormity of the means to be put into play and the difficulty of designing such a sophisticated solution.”
To alleviate the situation in ten dams, which will act as a pilot program, sensors and monitoring systems with advanced technology will be incorporated, which will allow real-time surveillance, reducing the possibility of errors and improving the response capacity in the event of any anomaly.
Installed auscultation sensors require specialized labor to maintain their functionality. It is a relevant task that has been neglected for years, as stated in the file. “It is also necessary to have a diagnosis in relation to the quality and scope of the behavioral analyzes that are currently being carried out, and which, as has been mentioned, are absolutely decisive in order to obtain a statement in relation to the safety with which the dam performs its functions,” it is added. “In addition to the analysis of the data obtained carried out periodically, generally on an annual basis, it is important that the report considers the study of the behavior of prey in exceptional circumstances, given that valuable conclusions are usually obtained.”
The document also states that there is a high number of hydroelectric facilities for which “little is known about their behavior and that of their foundations.” The contract, worth 1,229,709.71 euros, will have an execution period of 24 months from the date of signature.
The ministry assures that investment in dam safety has experienced an increase in recent years and that in the three-year period 2023-2025, more than 233.5 million euros have been allocated specifically to actions linked to dam safety, distributed across different priority lines.
