LIFE Regenera Limia and the works of the Miño-Sil Confederation

LIFE Regenera Limia was a European demonstration project, led by the Miño-Sil Hydrographic Confederation (CHMS), aimed at reducing nutrients of agricultural and livestock origin in the waters of A Limia and testing an approach that combines preventive and regenerative measures to comply with the Water Framework Directive ^[2]. This page summarises the project and other CHMS works in the comarca according to the confederation’s own documentation. The state of water quality as told by other bodies is in Water, nitrates and irrigation in A Limia.

The context

The comarca is, according to the project, one of the Galician territories with the highest farm output (potatoes, maize, cereals and vegetables), with numerous intensive cattle, pig and poultry farms. The draining of the Lagoa de Antela in the 1950s changed the hydrographic network of the middle Limia basin through channelling of the riverbed and the construction of drainage canals, with the loss of the original floodplains ^[1]. In the 1970s sand-extraction companies were set up in the south of the former lagoon, whose activity created artificial wetlands ^[1]. Downstream lies the As Conchas reservoir, used for hydroelectricity, tourism and recreation, so water quality is essential ^[1].

Who took part

The CHMS led the project, with beneficiary partners: the Xunta de Galicia (Environment Department), the Ourense Provincial Council, Inorde and the companies Eco-Lagunas and Coren, and with Gas Natural as financial collaborator ^[5]. The first meeting of the Stakeholder Group was held at Inorde’s Agricultural and Livestock Development Centre; the group was to meet every six months ^[7].

The actions

• B1. Integrated fertiliser management control system. Aim of reducing on average by 30 % the fertilisers and manures on each plot of potatoes, cereal and vegetables, and by 50 % the liquid manure of animal origin on pastures ^[2].
• B2. Artificial wetland for pig slurry. Treating 53 m³ of slurry a day, the waste of 1,090 sows in a closed cycle, as a prototype for the livestock sector ^[2].
• B3. Recovery of the old meander of the Limia river. At the Veigas de Ponteliñares (Rairiz de Veiga), within the A Limia SPA (Special Protection Area for birds). When the river was channelled and straightened during the drainage, the meanders were left isolated; the work affects 8.5 ha and a meander of about 900 m that was reopened, connected to the present riverbed by two crossings ^[3].
• B4. Sand-pit ponds. On the edges of the Lagoa de Antela canal, abandoned sand-pit ponds were hydraulically connected to the canal through three passes, with progressive-flooding platforms and three floating islands with purifying macrophytes ^[4].

The tender for actions B3 and B4 was published in the BOE for €362,754.84 and €180,378.57, with a bid deadline of 30 March 2014 ^[6].

Results presented in 2019

At the closing seminar, at the Casa da Cultura of Xinzo de Limia, the CHMS reported ^[5]:

• 80 % of the potato fields took part in the fertiliser control system (551 owners, more than 3,300 plots, 7,000 ha), with a 40 % reduction in mineral fertiliser;
• in the restored meander, the reduction of nitrates and nitrites was above 40 % in all 2019 samplings and, for nitrates, above 85 % on average; nitrogen and phosphorus compounds fell by more than 55 % on average;
• the former sand pits turned into wetlands improve natural purification and increased amphibian populations.

Other CHMS works in A Limia

• Limia river in Xinzo. Works to improve the public water domain and drainage capacity in the urban stretch, carried out in six months with an investment of over €670,500: the Bouzo bridge was widened and the pedestrian footbridge by the swimming pools was replaced with a metal one 2.50 m wide and 45 m long ^[8].
• Xinzo wastewater plant. Improvement of the nutrient-removal capacity of the treatment plant, designed in the 1990s, with an investment of €1,127,585, 80 % from the Ministry and 20 % from the Xunta, and capacity for about 16,250 inhabitants ^[9].
• Cleaning and maintenance of channels. Over €480,000 in 2019–2020, along more than 60 km of channels in Sarreaus, Sandiás, Xinzo, Vilar de Santos, Vilar de Barrio, Rairiz de Veiga, Trasmiras, Porqueira and Bande, using bioengineering techniques ^[10].
• Irrigation. The CHMS created a monitoring committee with four irrigation communities (Corno do Monte, San Salvador de Sabucedo, Alta Limia and Lamas–Ganade) to advise them on legalising wells, as a temporary solution until irrigation is modernised ^[11].

Links

• Waters of A Limia
• Rivers and streams of A Limia
• The Limia river

Sources

1. Proxecto LIFE Regenera Limia, «A Limia». https://regeneralimia.chminosil.es/a-limia/?lang=gl
2. Proxecto LIFE Regenera Limia, «Obxectivos». https://regeneralimia.chminosil.es/objetivos/
3. Proxecto LIFE Regenera Limia, «Leitos fluviais» (acción B3). https://regeneralimia.chminosil.es/leitos-fluviais/?lang=gl
4. Proxecto LIFE Regenera Limia, «Charcas de area» (acción B4). https://regeneralimia.chminosil.es/charcas-de-area/?lang=gl
5. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 1859 «El proyecto LIFE Regenera Limia demuestra que con la implicación del sector agroganadero mejorará la calidad de las aguas de A Limia». https://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/1859-el-proyecto-life-regenera-limia-demuestra-que-con-la-implicacion-del-sector-agroganadero-mejorara-la-calidad-de-las-aguas-de-a-limia
6. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 1374 sobre a licitación das accións B3 e B4. http://www.chminosil.es:80/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/1374-la-confederacion-hidrografica-del-mino-sil-anuncia-la-licitacion-de-las-acciones-b3-y-b4-del-proyecto-life-regenera-limia
7. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, «Celebrada la primera reunión del Grupo de Partes Interesadas del proyecto LIFE Regenera Limia». http://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/actividad-del-organismo/1372-celebrada-la-primera-reunion-del-grupo-de-partes-interesadas-del-proyecto-life-regenera-limia
8. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 1228 sobre as obras do río Limia en Xinzo. https://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/1228-el-ministerio-de-agricultura-alimentacion-y-medio-ambiente-concluye-las-obras-de-mejora-de-la-capacidad-de-desaguee-del-rio-limia-a-su-paso-por-el-tramo-urbano-de-xinzo-de-limia-ourense
9. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 1238 sobre a EDAR de Xinzo. http://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/1238-el-ministerio-de-agricultura-alimentacion-y-medio-ambiente-ejecuta-las-obras-de-mejora-de-la-edar-de-xinzo-de-limia-ourense-con-una-inversion-de-mas-de-1-1-millones-de-euros
10. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 2080 sobre a conservación de canles. https://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/2080-la-chms-invirtio-en-a-limia-mas-de-480-000-euros-en-limpieza-y-conservacion-de-cauces-durante-en-el-periodo-2019-2020
11. Confederación Hidrográfica do Miño-Sil, nota de prensa 2013 sobre a comisión de seguimento do regadío. https://www.chminosil.es/es/chms/comunicacion/nuestras-notas-de-prensa/2013-el-presidente-de-la-chms-crea-una-comision-de-seguimiento-para-dar-solucion-temporal-a-la-problematica-del-regadio-de-a-limia