Case study:The Manzanares River Restoration: Demolition of an obsolete dam and riverine ecosystem rehabilitation
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Project overview
Status | Complete |
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Project web site | |
Themes | |
Country | Spain |
Main contact forename | CHTajo |
Main contact surname | CHTajo |
Main contact user ID | |
Contact organisation | |
Contact organisation web site | |
Partner organisations | |
Parent multi-site project | |
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
No |
Project summary
During the decade of the 40s, a small dam (9 meters high, 23 meters width) was built in the Manzanares River, in a site placed inside the Regional Park, in order to supply water to the village –Manzanares del Real- located few kilometers downstream. Year by year the dam has accumulated such a big quantity of sediments coming from the granite banks and slopes that at the end of the century it was completely full of sand, in such a way that it became useless.
The main target was to give back to the river the natural features it had before the dam construction and to recover the longitudinal and transversal continuity.
The river basin authority, that belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Environment -Confederación Hidrográfica del Tajo- in collaboration with other authorities (the local Council and the Madrid Autonomous Community), stated as an achievement this dam removal, in order to solve the problems the structure was inducing in the riverine ecosystem. The project has a total budget of 450.000€.
Monitoring surveys and results
Lessons learnt
Catchment and subcatchment
Edit the catchment and subcatchment details
(affects all case studies in this subcatchment)
Catchment
River basin district | C.H.Tajo |
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River basin | Tajo |
Subcatchment
River name | Manzanares |
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Area category | |
Area (km2) | |
Maximum altitude category | 500 - 1000 m |
Maximum altitude (m) | 980 m0.98 km <br />98,000 cm <br /> |
Dominant geology | Siliceous |
Ecoregion | Ibero-Macaronesian |
Dominant land cover | Woodland |
Waterbody ID |
Site
Name | Paraje del Tranco, Manzanares del Real |
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WFD water body codes | |
WFD (national) typology | |
WFD water body name | |
Pre-project morphology | Sinuous |
Reference morphology | Sinuous |
Desired post project morphology | |
Heavily modified water body | |
National/international site designation | |
Local/regional site designations | UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Regional Park |
Protected species present | |
Invasive species present | |
Species of interest | |
Dominant hydrology | |
Dominant substrate | |
River corridor land use | Woodland |
Average bankfull channel width category | |
Average bankfull channel width (m) | |
Average bankfull channel depth category | |
Average bankfull channel depth (m) | |
Mean discharge category | |
Mean annual discharge (m3/s) | |
Average channel gradient category | |
Average channel gradient | |
Average unit stream power (W/m2) |
Project background
Reach length directly affected (m) | |
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Project started | 2008/01/01 |
Works started | |
Works completed | 2008/01/01 |
Project completed | |
Total cost category | 100 - 500 k€ |
Total cost (k€) | 450 k€450,000 € <br /> |
Benefit to cost ratio | |
Funding sources | Department of Environment of the Community of Madrid, C.H.Tajo |
Cost for project phases
Phase | cost category | cost exact (k€) | Lead organisation | Contact forename | Contact surname |
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Investigation and design | |||||
Stakeholder engagement and communication | |||||
Works and works supervision | C.H.Tajo | ||||
Post-project management and maintenance | |||||
Monitoring |
Reasons for river restoration
Measures
Structural measures
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Bank/bed modifications | Bank stabilization, Dam removal |
Floodplain / River corridor | Riparian tree planting |
Planform / Channel pattern | |
Other | |
Non-structural measures
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Management interventions | |
Social measures (incl. engagement) | |
Other |
Monitoring
Hydromorphological quality elements
Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
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Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative | |||
Channel pattern/planform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Improvement | |
Structure & condition of riparian zones | Yes | Yes | Yes | Improvement |
Biological quality elements
Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
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Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative |
Physico-chemical quality elements
Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
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Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative |
Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic
Element | When monitored | Type of monitoring | Control site used | Result | ||
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Before measures | After measures | Qualitative | Quantitative |
Monitoring documents
Image gallery
Additional documents and videos
Additional links and references
Link | Description |
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