What about our reservoirs?

I have read a very interesting article by Fiona Harvey in The Guardian that I found most interesting and made me think about something we hardly ever think about: our reservoirs.

And this coincides with the fact that not long ago in the central area of ​​Spain there has been a heavy snowfall followed by rains, which have caused floods in the rivers and forced the reservoirs to release water so as not to be overflowed.

But as Fiona says in her article, reservoirs are studied to last around 50 to 100 years under “normal” conditions, but the effect of climate change will bring us exceptional flood situations that will force the reservoirs to withstand special efforts, which can only be done with careful maintenance of them.

Most of the reservoirs were built between 1940 and 1970, so by the year 2050 they will be at the end of their useful life, and that is in a short time. Most of the reservoirs are already “old” and are in the end of their useful life.

To create more uncertainty, many reservoirs have important cities along their lower route where many people live, and if they had a problem that forces them to release water in an unexpected way, it could seriously affect the lives of thousands of people.

There are on the order of 60,000 reservoirs around the world ahead and although it is very rare for one to collapse, the possibilities increase with aging and poor maintenance. And many of them have already exceeded their useful life.

There is not much experience in how reservoirs are managed at the end of their life, as only a few have reached this stage and each one does it in their own way. Let us hope that the necessary preventive measures are taken so that there is no need to regret human misfortunes in the coming years.