The Governing Council has declared the improvement works for the La Encantadora dam, in Vallehermoso (La Gomera), of interest to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. This declaration is a mandatory preliminary step to execute the works, which have a budget of €850,000 allocated in the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community for 2026. The intervention aims to reinforce the safety conditions of the hydraulic infrastructure, modernize its facilities, and improve the management of water resources for irrigation.
Planned actions include the replacement of existing valves, adaptation of drainage and emptying systems to current regulations, and the renovation of electrical and monitoring installations. These works will enhance the safety of the facilities, as well as the systems for measuring, controlling, and managing water flows to distribution networks.
The budget committed by the Government of the Canary Islands for actions aimed at improving and modernizing irrigation infrastructures in the Archipelago currently amounts to €28.26 million. Furthermore, new works are planned to commence during the fiscal years 2026 and 2027, with an estimated cost of €24.41 million.
The dams in La Gomera play a fundamental role in the sustainability of the island's irrigation, capturing and storing runoff water during winter for later use in agriculture. However, most of these infrastructures are approximately 50 years old. This situation necessitates modernization, conditioning, and improvement works to adapt the dams to the requirements established by current legislation on safety, control, and management, which currently lack basic flow measurement instruments, essential for optimizing water resources and advancing irrigation modernization on the island.
In coordination with the Island Council of La Gomera and the Insular Water Council, the Government of the Canary Islands has carried out modernization actions on the dams of Chejelipes, Izcagüe, and Palacios. Additionally, an action has been executed to ensure the transfer of flows between the dams of Mulagua and Liria, which improves the management of irrigation water retained in the basin.
Due to the technical complexity of this infrastructure, for years coordinated work has been carried out with the Insular Water Council of La Gomera to develop a project that would allow for the necessary improvements, considering the experience and actions taken in other dams on the island. These works are included in the Hydrological Plan of the Hydrographic Demarcation of La Gomera, within the framework of the third planning cycle 2021-2027.
