Case study:Sustainable management, at local level, of the alluvial aquifer of the River Tordera, through the reuse of waste water
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Project overview
Status | Complete |
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Project web site | |
Themes | |
Country | Spain |
Main contact forename | Lluis |
Main contact surname | Balaguer |
Main contact user ID | |
Contact organisation | ACA |
Contact organisation web site | |
Partner organisations | |
Parent multi-site project | |
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects |
No |
Project summary
The rivers of the Mediterranean countries are subject to intense human occupancy that causes problems in the exploitation of their resources. The overuse of water resources (urban, industrial and agricultural) leads to the following impacts on alluvial aquifers: The water table is lowered and the capacity of the bores is reduced; the drought period is extended, leaving the river bed dry for increasing periods; groundwater quality is reduced and urban water supply sources become polluted; protected wetlands dry up, biodiversity is lost and conservation problems arise.
The Tordera Aquifer project will strive to reverse this trend by improving water management in the Tordera municipality. The objectives are as follows: improve quality of the sewage system; recycled treated water for conservation (aquifer recharge, establishment of wetlands); use of renewable energy and low-maintenance, soft treatment systems in the processes; serve as a pioneer example for other communities in the same river basin which can manage their water resources in a similar way.
This project counts with the support of local, regional and European institutions. The financing comes from the LIFE initiative, the Tordera City Council and the Government of Cataluña. The total budget is 1.409.139€ (LIFE support 338.101€).
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 | Pirineo Oriental |
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River basin | Tordera |
Subcatchment
River name | Tordera |
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Area category | |
Area (km2) | |
Maximum altitude category | Less than 100 m |
Maximum altitude (m) | 25 m0.025 km <br />2,500 cm <br /> |
Dominant geology | |
Ecoregion | Ibero-Macaronesian |
Dominant land cover | Urban |
Waterbody ID |
Other case studies in this subcatchment: Fluvial river restoration of Tordera in Sant Celoni, Fluvial river restoration of Tordera in Tordera
Site
Name | Río Tordera |
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WFD water body codes | |
WFD (national) typology | |
WFD water body name | |
Pre-project morphology | Braided |
Reference morphology | Braided |
Desired post project morphology | |
Heavily modified water body | |
National/international site designation | |
Local/regional site designations | |
Protected species present | |
Invasive species present | |
Species of interest | |
Dominant hydrology | |
Dominant substrate | |
River corridor land use | Urban |
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) | 55 m0.055 km <br />5,500 cm <br /> |
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Project started | 2001/07/01 |
Works started | |
Works completed | 2003/12/01 |
Project completed | |
Total cost category | 1000 - 5000 k€ |
Total cost (k€) | 1409 k€1,409,000 € <br /> |
Benefit to cost ratio | |
Funding sources | LIFE project 338.101€, ACA, Tordera city council |
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 | ISTEM (sistema de placas fotovoltaica) | ||||
Post-project management and maintenance | |||||
Monitoring |
Reasons for river restoration
Mitigation of a pressure | Abstraction |
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Hydromorphology | Connection to groundwaters |
Biology | |
Physico-chemical | Salinity |
Other reasons for the project |
Measures
Structural measures
| |
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Bank/bed modifications | |
Floodplain / River corridor | Creation of an infiltration lagoon, New habitats construction |
Planform / Channel pattern | |
Other | |
Non-structural measures
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Management interventions | |
Social measures (incl. engagement) | Communication and dissemination program of environmental problems in the area. |
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 |
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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