Dredging operation on Algar river dam

THE Marina Baja Water Consortium is dredging a small dam on the Algar river to increase its capacity.

The €106,000 cost  will be covered by the Consortium’s own funds after the central government turned down a request for funds assigned to damage caused by the DANA (Isolated High Altitude Depression) in September 2019.

Dredging is necessary after the DANA, followed last January by Storm Gloria, swept huge amounts of gravel, silt and debris downstream, filling the dam at the Mandem pumping station where the Guadalest and Algar rivers meet in Altea.

The Consortium’s chief engineer, Jaime Berenguer, explained to Informacion newspaper that this has reduced the dam’s capacity.

“We are emptying the dam so that it can once again hold the 10,000 cubic metres of water it was built for,” Berenguer said.

Meanwhile, Benidorm – one of the Marina Baja towns belonging to the Consortium – has been suggesting for some time that the Guadalest reservoir itself should be dragged in order to increase its capacity.

Failing that, Jose Ramon Gonzalez de Zarate, the councillor responsible for Benidorm’s water supply has asked the Madrid and the Confederacion Hidrografica del Jucar water board to raise the reservoir’s crest to increase capacity.

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