• New stations have been built on the Narla, Quiroga and Tamuxe rivers, and are being built on the Sil and Lobios rivers.
• The project is also making progress in the preparation of a joint Special Drought Plan (Spain-Portugal) that will enable more rigorous diagnosis and management of scenarios of prolonged drought and cyclical shortages.

The European POCTEP RISC_PLUS project, focused on strengthening the resilience of the Miño and Limia cross-border basins in the face of climate change, has taken important steps in the implementation of automatic hydrological and water quality information systems, drought analysis and flood forecasting. These actions consolidate its commitment to sustainable water management adapted to current challenges.

Currently, the automatic hydrological information system (SAIH) has 116 control points in the Miño-Sil Demarcation, which will be 124 by the end of the project. Similarly, the automatic water quality information system (SAICA), which has 18 stations, will be increased to 20 once RISC_PLUS is completed.

To date, the stations located on the Narla river in Friol (Lugo), Quiroga river in Quiroga (Lugo) and Tamuxe river in O Rosal (Pontevedra) have been completed and are operational. In addition, two more stations are at an advanced stage of execution, with the civil works practically completed, located on the river Sil in Toreno (León) and on the river Lobios in Lobios (Ourense). The Portuguese partners, for their part, are carrying out administrative work to complete the monitoring network in their territory, ensuring a coordinated and cross-border approach.

‘It is important to remember that the SAIH stations provide information on our watercourses in real time, based on the capture, transmission and processing of the values adopted by the most significant hydrometeorological and hydraulic variables; the sensors of these control points are located in very specific and studied geographical locations in order to obtain accurate data that help in decision-making’, explained José Antonio Quiroga, president of the CHMS.

The project is also making progress in the development of a Joint Special Drought Plan, which is already compiling key data and using weather forecasts to create protocols for diagnosing and managing scenarios of prolonged drought and temporary shortages.