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This series of photographs that I share in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos correspond to where the drought begins in Baells, since the water that goes through the Berga industrial canal does not enter the swamp.
The reservoir is at 29% of its capacity after the latest rains, when a year ago it was almost at 35%, while the average for the last five years is 78%.
The Berga industrial canal is an engineering work built between 1886 and 1899 that had the objective of promoting the industrialization of the region based on hydrological energy. This work provided energy to the municipality until the arrival of electricity.
But it is still in operation. Next to the lock is the “canal house”, a single-story rectangular construction built with bricks and stone that served to control and regulate the water.
Next to the lock there is a spillway that controlled the flow of water and expelled it into the river in case of strong floods or downpours. The section of canal that runs through the municipality of Guardiola has two tunnels and a small bridge over the Jou torrent.
This first photograph, from February 26, shows us the canal full of water. And in the second we see how it swallows all the water from the river.
The following photograph is from June 1, 2023: the water that the canal does not absorb goes to the swamp. And the following image is from June 11: the water does not fill the Baells because it goes through the canal.
The following photograph is located in Cercs, above the C-16 highway. In the other image, from June 28, the canal was still full and the Baells reservoir was empty.
In June, I calculated the liters of water that did not enter the swamp every day and this was the case for 30 days of that month. That is, 30 days at 207,000,000 liters each day is a good amount of water.
In this other photograph we see the lock. Although the water goes to the swamp, the canal remains full. The river manager is the one who has to decide all the water that goes to the reservoir. As long as the canal is in charge of the water, it is not worth having a swamp.
Finally, in this last photograph we see how, from Cal Rosal, along the greenway, there is the Llobregat water drain that has skipped the passage through Baells.
