The Rialb reservoir (Lleida) is, after the Canelles reservoir (with 679 cubic hectometres), the largest reservoir in Catalonia. Its construction began to take shape during the Franco regime and was not inaugurated until the year 2. It is one of the last Spanish marshes in which there was no hesitation in flooding a municipality, Tiurana, in favor of water supply. The reservoir is located in the pre-Pyrenees, its dam has a height of 000 meters and was not finished filling until 99 when it reached its maximum: 2.010 cubic hectometres. The affected village, Tiurana, was rebuilt a few meters away. In 403 Jordi Pujol visited the urbanization works of the new municipality. The president addressed the neighbors and snapped: "My governments have always been favorable to the construction of the Rialb reservoir for the numerous and positive benefits that it will bring to many towns and the regions of Lleida." In September 6, President José Montilla officially inaugurated "the resurgence of the people of Tiurana". The new municipality had 2002 houses for 2007 neighbors built on top of the hill next to the swamp. Then it was bet that the new Tiurana was a tourist reference and there was even talk of building a golf course.
A buoy where there should be water in the RialbAlbert Garcia reservoir
Today the reservoir is almost empty and forecasts of economic prosperity have collapsed. Rialb is the reservoir with the lowest percentage of water in Catalonia. On May 14 it only accumulated 26.7 cubic hectometres of water, 6.60% of its capacity (only a year ago it reached 190.1 cubic hectometres and was at 47.10% of its total capacity). The image of the pharaonic reservoir about to dry up is the prelude to an unprecedented crisis in Lleida. Rialb is the canteen that feeds the Canal d'Urgell and the Canal Segarra-Garrigues. Two hydraulic infrastructures – the Urgell was inaugurated in 1862 and the Segarra Garrigues in 2009 – destined to convert a large part of the province of Lleida into irrigation. It is in this part of Catalonia where the main fruit growing area – apple, pear, peach, nectarine ... – of Spain is located and one of the strategic points dedicated to the export of these vegetables to Europe.
The mayor of Tiurana, Àngel Villarte (Junts), denounces that none of the promises made two decades ago have been fulfilled. In this municipality of just over 70 people are dedicated – as the mayor states – to "survive". "They kicked us out of our homes to build a reservoir with which they were going to irrigate 70,000 hectares of the Segarra-Garrigues and, in reality, they do not reach 12,000. They promised us that our fields would no longer be rainfed and being next to the reservoir they have not channeled us," laments Villarte. "What can we live on? They have declared the area as an animal corridor and we can not do anything in them, they have not brought us services, we have some rural house but this is only an economic complement. Tourism is not enough to make a living. To treat us like this, they had to have flooded the town with us inside," Villarte complains. Promises, including that of the golf course, were not kept.
Josep Sangrà is 52 years old and is a farmer in Vilanova de l'Aguda (Lleida). Since the age of 18 he has been cultivating land near the Rialb reservoir. "I don't have fruit trees because it's very cold here. We are dedicated to cereal: wheat and corn but this year will be a disaster, "he laments. Sangrà shows one of its fields, irrigated with the Segarra-Garrigues, practically dry and with vegetation reaching its waist. "At this time of the year, the wheat should reach my chest but, in addition, the ears are empty," he laments.
Josep Sangrà says that wheat should reach chest heightAlbert Garcia
Rialb's water feeds crops but is also the mouthwater reserve of dozens of towns. Faced with the possibility of ending the supply of mouth of the citizens, on April 25, the community of irrigators of the Urgell channel decided to close the tap to irrigation due to the shortage of reserves in Rialb. On May 2, the Segarra-Garrigues channel was also closed. Farmers know that this year's harvest will be a disaster. According to data from the Fruit Business Association of Catalonia (Afrucat) in Lleida, 70% of the apples in Spain, 65% of the pears and 40% of the peaches and nectarines are produced. The farmers who feed on the Urgell canal consider the harvest lost and assure that 164 million euros will be lost. If, in addition, water is not provided to the fruit trees and the trees die, the losses will be 764 million only in the trees of the Urgell canal.
Pere Roqué is a farmer and president in Lleida of the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (Asaja). Contemplate from one of the viewpoints of the Rialb reservoir "the magnitude of the tragedy" of seeing the last great reservoir dry. "We could go through it without it covering us more than the waist. I've never seen anything like it," he laments. The Segarra-Garrigues is a modern canal where water is much more optimized. On the other hand, the Urgell with more than 160 years of history is the infrastructure that runs 144 kilometers in canals and provides water to 70,000 hectares, 77,000 people, 300 industries, 2,000 farms and 120 municipalities. In Urgell, farmers irrigate blankets – by flooding – while Segarra-Garrigues does so thanks to the drop-by-drop system.
Roqué is clear that farmers can now only contemplate two scenarios: "Lose a lot of money or go completely bankrupt." From next week, in the Urgell channel they will have to start throwing the fruit from the trees because, if not, water stress would occur to the fruit trees. "The 2023 harvest is lost. Now we have to see if the trees can survive. In autumn, if it rains, it is possible that they decompensate and begin to bloom in October but the cold will prevent the harvest from prospering and will end up compromising that of 2024, "laments Roqué. "In addition, the perfect storm has occurred because in the Baix Segre area you can still irrigate. There the campaign has been advanced by the heat but it is that, this year, in Murcia it has started later and Huelva has later varieties so there are no seasonal workers in Lleida for the little fruit that will be, "laments Roqué. A fruit campaign in Lleida attracts about 35,000 seasonal workers that this year because the harvests overlap each other and that there will be no fruit due to the drought will be totally questioned.
Rialb Reservoir.Albert Garcia
Josep Pujal is a farmer and descends from the area of Tiurana (Lleida). "This year's drought is not exceptional. My ancestors say that in 1905 and 1906 the rivers were dry and it was a disaster that ended with floods in 1907. In 1944 there was another drought that lasted two years and ended in 1945 with the great snowfall. These lack of water always end with economic disasters," says Pujal.
Promises of tourism in the area have also ended in tragedy. Iván Soler, from a family of farmers in La Baronia de Rialb, has had a truth in his thoughts for decades: "Here you cannot live off the land." In 2014 he decided to invest and build a small port creating the Club Nautico Segre Rialb with which he tried to exploit the swamp by renting kayaks. "This is not Marbella. Here no one can live on the land or tourism. There is nothing here, so we try to promote the area and ask for permits to make a small accommodation, a colony house. We have been fighting against bureaucracy for years without achieving anything. Now the drought has ruined us. Here they don't let us earn a living from agriculture, livestock or a few kayaks," he laments.
The sight of the dozens of kayaks in a dry swamp is desolate. In the middle of the vegetation there are buoys that used to mark points and are now in the middle of a dry ravine.
Josep María Jové is the president of the irrigation community of Segarra-Garrigues. He is very critical of the restrictions. "The water that remains in Rialb is distributed between us and the Urgell channel but the difference, between one and the other, is great. They water blanket and our system is more modern. If the water were distributed to the Segarra-Garrigues we would exploit it a lot and we could not only save the trees but also the harvest," he says. Jové argues that the farmers of the Segarra-Garrigues invested 10,000 euros per hectare to bring irrigation to their lands and pay 20 cents per cubic meter of water while those of the Canal d'Urgell flood the fields for a "derisory" flat rate. It depends on the decision of the administrations to save 5,000 hectares of trees in the Segarra-Garrigues.
Rialb Reservoir (Lleida), in an image of May 10. Albert Garcia
The president of the community of irrigators of Urgell, Amadeu Ros, claims that the priority is to save the trees. "We want to modernize our fields but they can't let us die," he laments.
Pere Roqué is more explicit: "Modernizing is very good, but let's see who pays for this party, because the 2022 harvest was a disaster due to frost, this one due to drought and predictably so will be 2024. We farmers are going to be left destitute."
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