Irrigation has been the determining factor in the success of harvesting crops in the region of Aragón in northeastern Spain in recent years.
The area of Montesusín in the region Spain and the community there say that despite two years of drought, through the irrigation system in place, they were able to save 50% of crops that would have been otherwise lost.
There are 49 of these communities in the Aragón region, with Montesusín covering an area of 3,984ha, 3,238ha of which are irrigable.
Drinking water is considered the priority in the region, and in the event of a drought, José Alberto Lax, a coordinator of the irrigation community, said that “crops are planted accordingly” to what crops are essential.
This operation is under the Communidad General de Riegos del Alto Aragón, which is a public law corporation made of of the various ordinary irrigation communities.
José Antonio Pradas, president of Riegos del Alto Aragón, said that the this system in the communities creates “healthy and sustainable” food.
The irrigation systems put in place, through a network of reservoirs and canals, allow water to be channeled from the Pyrenees mountain range, which are just 70km away from Montesusín.
There is 3.5 million ha in irrigation in Spain, and 135,000ha of it is in Aragón which supports 10,000 families in the region.
There are 1,068 livestock farms in operation, while the crops produced in the region include maize and alfalfa, which occupy almost 80% of the irrigated area, with the rest consisting of winter cereals, including barley.
The modernisation of the irrigation system in Aragón began in 2008, and there has since been an estimated €2 million per year invested in the public infrastructure.
The system has created infrastructure including over 2000km of canals, in 3,000km sewers and drains, and service roads for the canals that are over 5,000km.
Sustainability
The Montesusín irrigation community say that ensuring people can live in the area, which is in the Aragón region which is prone to adverse climates, is important to be sustained.
Irrigation is key to this, and an aspect of how water is pumped throughout the farmed land has been developed is through its pumping stations.
Aragon is considered as a strongly unbalanced territory where more than half of the population and 53.1% of the total gross disposable income are concentrated in the capital Zaragoza.
The Montesusín pumping station, powered by a solar energy, has a peak power of 1.58MWp, with this technology only used for the first time in 2023.
The solar energy that is powering these pumps often does not achieve its daily targets of water pumped, but the community choose to achieve these targets at night time by using electricity from the grid, as it is cheaper to do so at night.
There is further renewable energy at work in the irrigation system, as there are seven hydroelectric plants that turbine water for irrigation with an annual electricity generation of 5OgwH.
Irrigation maintenance
To ease the maintenance of the system, the Montesusín irrigation community aim to increase remote controlling of the infrastructure.
There is also an increasing number of women taking up technical positions in the development of irrigation in the region.
The canals require cleaning during the winter and during the non-irrigation season (October to April) when water levels are low.
Zebra mussels are a problem in irrigation networks in Aragón, as they can completely block the system, thus preventing water reaching areas where it is needed.
Management of this invasive species is required for the success of the system as the water supply will be affected by the spread of zebra mussels.