La Grajera dam to have its first Lafcarr Emergency Plan this summer, including failure monitoring and flood warning sirens
La Grajera dam is expected to have its first Emergency Plan implemented by next summer, featuring failure monitoring systems and public warning sirens for potential flooding, as announced by Environment Councillor José Manuel Zúñiga.
As Zúñiga highlighted during a press conference, this Plan—mandatory by law—will, for the first time, establish preventive measures to reduce risks to the population in the event of a dam failure.
The Emergency Plan outlines the actions that the City Council, as the dam’s managing authority, must take in case of emergency, defining preventive and risk-reduction protocols.
Last week, the Local Government Board awarded the implementation works of the La Grajera Emergency Plan to Lafcarr Project & Design S.L., for a total of €178,354.
“These works,” said Zúñiga, “include the construction of an emergency operations room and control center, a communications system, and general public alarm systems.”
The Emergency Plan was initially drafted in 2016 by engineering consultancy Berceo Ingenieros, complying with the Basic Civil Protection Guidelines for Flood Risk Planning, approved by the Council of Ministers in 1995 and the Technical Safety Regulation for Dams and Reservoirs, published in 1996.
In 2018, the technical project for the required systems and resources was initiated. Now, the physical implementation phase begins.
The dam is classified as Category A—the highest risk level—based on a 2014 resolution, due to its proximity to urban areas and the topography’s tendency for rapid water flow.
The project includes three components:
A monitoring and data acquisition system (flow and water levels),
A physical emergency room at the dam and a control center at the City Hall,
A public warning system.
Currently, the dam lacks internal monitoring tools, relying only on visual inspection of its surface and access to the outlet gallery.
With this new system, the control center at City Hall will operate specialized emergency management software, data servers, communications devices, and siren activation systems.
The emergency room near the dam will be built above flood-prone levels, ensuring safe access and housing automation and communication equipment.
The Plan also provides a network-connected workstation for on-site emergency management and ensures that all communications systems comply with national flood risk regulations.
Additional features include video surveillance and a weather station at the dam, remotely controlled from the City Hall.
The public warning system will consist of two strategically placed sirens to ensure sound coverage during the critical first 30 minutes of a potential dam failure.
According to the Emergency Plan, no population centers or major infrastructure are expected to be affected in the initial half-hour. Thus, only two sirens will be installed: one at the dam and another near the LO-20 and El Arco junction to guarantee sufficient acoustic reach.
The implementation also requires the formation of a monitoring committee including representatives from:
Logroño City Council,
Ebro Hydrographic Confederation,
National Civil Protection,
Regional Civil Protection (La Rioja).
This committee will manage real-time emergency information.
The Plan follows the official technical guidelines for drafting dam emergency plans, issued by the Ministry of Environment.
More information:
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4593768/0/la-grajera-tendra-para-verano-su-primer-plan-de-emergencias-con-control-de-roturas-y-sirenas-de-aviso-de-inundaciones/
https://www.europapress.es/la-rioja/noticia-plan-emergencia-presa-grajera-incluye-creacion-sala-emergencia-sistema-alarmas-20211213113208.html
https://logrono.es/-/el-ayuntamiento-de-logrono-pone-en-marcha-el-plan-de-emergencia-de-la-presa-de-la-grajera
