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Tiny mussels are stuck to the subsoil of the Baells reservoir, in Berguedà. The amount there is is incredible, as we can see in this report in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos.
Thousands of mollusks have taken over the reservoir in the midst of a drought in Catalonia. In freshwater, the Phylum Mollusca predominate, especially gastropods (snails) and bivalves (mussels and clams).
In the case of Baells, the presence of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) was already detected, a freshwater mollusk with a great capacity for dispersal and colonization, currently favored by human activities.
The first record of a consolidated population of this species in Spain occurred in the lower reaches of the Ebro River in 2001, in Flix and Riba-roja d’Ebre (Tarragona).
In 2004, adults were detected in Mequinenza, and in 2006 it had already spread to other sub-basins and had reached the headwaters of the Ebro. It was not until 2011 that the mussel was found in the internal Catalan basins, specifically in the La Baells reservoir, in Cercs, at the head of the Llobregat river.
The water reserves in the internal basins of the swamps of Catalonia are at 19%, while the Baells reservoir is at 24.62%, when the average for the last five years is 77%.
The signs of drought are evident in the landscape of this reservoir, whose objective is to regulate the upper basin of the Llobregat River, supply water to the metropolitan area of ??Barcelona and produce hydroelectric energy.
The drought also makes the marks of the lack of water clearly visible on the banks of the reservoir and on the bridge that crosses it. It is also noticeable in the cracked earth, previously flooded with water, but now completely dry.
Currently, ruins of old houses from one of the three towns that were submerged are visible: Miralles, Baells and Sant Salvador de la Vedella.
You can also admire the monastery of Sant Salvador de la Vedella. Founded in the year 830 by the monks of San Saturnino de Tavèrnoles, it is the only construction left standing from the old town flooded during the construction of the reservoir.
