Ignacio Escuder: “Dams will play a key role on climate change adaptation and mitigation”
- The founding partner of iPresas did these statements to different mass media in Spain.
- Without dams in Spain, we would make use ofless than 10% of the water from rivers.
“We have built a shield against drought and floods. The national dam systemaplays a key role for mitigation and adaptationto climate change.
These statements to different Spanish mass media were made by Ignacio Escuder after being electedas president of SPANCOLD (Spanish National Committee on Large Dams). He highlighted the importance and the fundamental role of dam infrastructures in urban and rural development of Spain.
“The vulnerability of Spain to the impacts of climate change results on the fact that these infrastructures represent almost the only guarantee to store water during floods, which are expected to be more severe, and to use stored water during drought periods that will be longer”, noted the founding partner of iPresas
Hehighlighted that Spain is the first country in the world in terms of number of dams per inhabitant and square kilometer, which has allowed it to reach social, economic and environmental development levels that without these infrastructures would not have been possible.
“In Spain, unlike most European countries, water from our rivers that we could get naturally would be less than 10% of the total, due to the combination of droughts and floods in the same year and in the same basin. In central and northern Europe, this capacity is close to 90%, but in Spain we had to build more than 1200 large dams to achieve those values that guarantee us 70% of drinking water and 15% of the total energy that we produce “, he said.
In fact, he pointed out that water resources planning and water governance systems in Spainthrough River Basin Authorities, are a model recognized internationally.
Based on aforementioned and many other reasons, he highlighted that the maintenance of these infrastructures represents an important investment, with a relatively low cost when compared to the benefits they provide “… we must not forget that dams protect us from the effects of flood events, reducing potential fatalities and hundreds of millions of euros in economic losses every year.
Levante – 01/05/2018