The partners in the RISC_PLUS cross-border project held a meeting in Ourense to review the progress of the project’s activities

The partners in the European RISC_PLUS project held the twenty-seventh meeting of the joint working group in Ourense, at which they reviewed the progress of the planned activities and coordinated the outstanding tasks for the coming months. The meeting was attended by representatives from the Miño-Sil River Basin Authority (CHMS), the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the University of Vigo (UVigo) and the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto (FEUP), as the organisations forming the consortium for this cross-border project.

The Miño-Sil River Basin Authority reported on the progress of the hydrological monitoring stations planned for the Spanish part of the river basin district. Work has been completed on ten of the eleven stations included in the project. Another issue addressed was the completion of work on the new station for the Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH) at Os Peares, situated on the River Búbal in the province of Ourense. The status of the monitoring point for the Automatic Water Quality Information System (SAICA) planned for the River Arnoia in Allariz was also reviewed.

A Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente apresentou o estado das sete estações instaladas em território português, que incluem dois pontos de controlo hidrométricos e cinco de monitorização meteorológica, executadas durante 2025.

The Portuguese Environment Agency presented a report on the status of the seven stations installed across Portugal, comprising two hydrometric monitoring points and five meteorological monitoring points, which were commissioned in 2025.

The meeting also provided an opportunity to review work relating to drought analysis. In this regard, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto presented studies on the development of indicators to assess drought risk and analyse its potential evolution under different climate scenarios.

With regard to flooding, the partners discussed the progress of hydrological modelling work and the development of forecasting and warning systems. They also assessed the technical coordination required to integrate the results of the various studies.

Crop studies

For its part, the University of Vigo presented research relating to the analysis of the effects of climate change on certain socio-economic activities in the region. These include studies on the influence of meteorological variables on the yield of potatoes in A Limia and of vineyards in the Ribeiro and Ribeira Sacra designations of origin.

This is a project co-funded by the European Interreg Spain–Portugal (POCTEP) programme 2021–2027, which promotes solutions based on scientific knowledge, cross-border cooperation and technological innovation, with the aim of ensuring efficient and sustainable water management in a context shaped by climate change.