The second week of February saw a trip by the I-ReWater consortium to the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, irrigable areas of Montilla and Priego (Cordoba), and the facilities of the AMAYA Water Experimentation Centre (Carrión de los Céspedes, Seville). Representatives of INRAE, Fundación Juana de Vega and USC participated in the meetings and visits prepared by the partners Metropolitan Area of Catalonia – AMB (Monday and Tuesday, 10-11 February); University of Cordoba – IUCO (Wednesday, 12 February), and AMAYA (Thursday, 13 February).
On Monday afternoon, the progress of the Strategy for the Use of Regenerated Water was reviewed, specifying the final approach to be carried out, as well as the working methodology in relation to the social and economic approach. The director of the service, Mª Ángeles Orus, participated in this event, as well as Maria Huerta, head of AMB at I-ReWater, together with colleagues from INRAE who gave a summary of the current situation of reclaimed water in France.
First stop: Barcelona
On Tuesday morning, the technical visit to the facilities of the Gavà-Viladecans WWTP was carried out by the technical and management staff of the facility, focusing the presentation on the complexity of the water system in the Metropolitan Area. Representatives of the other two partners from Catalonia, the Irrigation Office of Catalonia and IRTA, attended the event. Local actors from the Consorci del Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat were also invited to contribute their vision and interact with the other attendees. The visit ended with a meeting with the owner of the horticultural pilot plot managed by AMB. This event allowed us to learn first-hand about his vision and concerns about water management in the area.
Cordoba: success story in the use of reclaimed water
In Cordoba, the delegation was received by the UCO team. On Wednesday, they travelled to the Irrigation Community of Montilla. There, they analysed a success story that dates back to 2006. Long before the regularisation in Spain of the use of reclaimed urban water in irrigated agriculture, investments for the storage of reclaimed water were carried out here.
The visit began with a review of the purification and reclaimed water generation system in Montilla, which is in the hands of a management company. Subsequently, the I-ReWater team was able to see first-hand the pumping station and water storage ponds at the Irrigation Community in Montilla. Learning about the history of this initiative, which was launched almost twenty years ago, was key to assessing the success of the project, both at a technical and administrative level.
On Wednesday afternoon, the meeting took place in Priego (Córdoba) with the president and the technician of the Irrigation Community of Priego, a project that began in 2017, and that this year 2025 is expected to come into operation after the completion of the works of the irrigation network and tertiary treatment.
Comparing the status of the Irrigation Communities in Cordoba has provided first-hand knowledge of the phases to be followed in a project to implement reclaimed urban water in irrigation, key factors for the social and economic study, as well as for the development of the Strategy underway by I-ReWater.
End of visit in Seville
To end the week, the working team travelled to Carrión de los Céspedes, where they were received by the managing director of AMAYA, Javier Marcial de Torre, and the AMAYA team and technicians at CENTA. This visit to the experimental centre, including nature-based purification treatments (NbS), was attended by representatives of the Association of Irrigation Communities of Andalusia (FERAGUA), the Association of Cooperative Women of Andalusia (AMCAE) and the farmer owner of the olive grove plot of the I-ReWater pilot, who together with staff from UCO and AMAYA, were able to learn about the two pilot actions of olive and industrial tomato that are being carried out at I-ReWater.
The policy of investment and action in reclaimed water from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development was explained in detail by the Director General of Water Infrastructure, Alvaro Real, as well as the forecast of the increase of water resources in Andalusia.
After an intense week of work in this in itinere meeting, the exchange of knowledge between all the actors involved will help to outline the Strategy for the Use of Regenerated Water in Agriculture proposed by the I-ReWater project.
