Dam safety, WB 1.6 million USD for feasibility studies

2025-01-20 08:08:00, Ekonomi CNA

Agricultural dams in the country are expected to undergo feasibility studies to assess their safety, hydrological and structural assessment, and take measures if necessary.

The World Bank recently published a document on a project that aims to support the Albanian government, specifically the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in increasing the safety of over 400 dams. The decision on the $1.6 million financing is expected to be passed by the Bank's Board on January 31 of this year.

The project in question, "Optimizing dam safety and sustainability of irrigation systems in the context of climate change," aims to support the Albanian Government in conducting preliminary feasibility studies.

"Overall, the goal is to identify and address climate risk to water management and agriculture and dilapidated water infrastructure with a focus on increasing the water storage capacity of reservoirs to adapt to a changing climate," the document states.

Specifically, the project aims to prepare the groundwork for increasing the security and availability of dam water to irrigate an area of ??180 thousand hectares of agricultural land located mainly in the western-coastal part of Albania from Shkodra to Vlora, enabling increased yields and incomes for 200,000 farms.

Rehabilitation, modernization of dams and improvement of their safety will need to include structural and non-structural measures, hydrological assessment, structural strengthening of dams and improvement of water storage in reservoirs, sediment management, modernization of control and monitoring, as well as other measures that would improve the safety and operation of dams.

The Committee on Large Dams has repeatedly raised concerns about monitoring and assessing agricultural dams to ensure their safety, given that there has been no data on their actual condition for years. Failure to assess risks in a timely manner could have major consequences for the communities where these dams are located. One case of a dam burst was the one just a few days ago in Bunec, although the dam in question was not agricultural but a hydroelectric power plant dam for energy production, which flooded several businesses./ Monitor Magazine