Privacy Policy

It is Open Rivers Programme’s policy to respect your privacy and comply with any applicable law and regulation regarding any personal information we may collect about you, including across our website, https://www.openrivers.eu, and other sites we own and operate.

This policy is effective as of 20 September 2021 and was last updated on 20 September 2021.

Information We Collect

Information we collect includes both information you knowingly and actively provide us when using or participating in any of our services and promotions, and any information automatically sent by your devices in the course of accessing our products and services.

Log Data

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on each page, other details about your visit, and technical details that occur in conjunction with any errors you may encounter.

Please be aware that while this information may not be personally identifying by itself, it may be possible to combine it with other data to personally identify individual persons.

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We may collect personal information from you when you do any of the following on our website:

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We may collect, hold, use, and disclose information for the following purposes, and personal information will not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with these purposes:

Please be aware that we may combine information we collect about you with general information or research data we receive from other trusted sources.

Security of Your Personal Information

When we collect and process personal information, and while we retain this information, we will protect it within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.

Although we will do our best to protect the personal information you provide to us, we advise that no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and no one can guarantee absolute data security. We will comply with laws applicable to us in respect of any data breach.

You are responsible for selecting any password and its overall security strength, ensuring the security of your own information within the bounds of our services.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need to. This time period may depend on what we are using your information for, in accordance with this privacy policy. If your personal information is no longer required, we will delete it or make it anonymous by removing all details that identify you.

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Children’s Privacy

We do not aim any of our products or services directly at children under the age of 13, and we do not collect personal information about children under 13.

If we receive personal information about you from a third party, we will protect it as set out in this privacy policy. If you are a third party providing personal information about somebody else, you represent and warrant that you have such person’s consent to provide the personal information to us.

If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time. We will provide you with the ability to unsubscribe from our email-database or opt out of communications. Please be aware we may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity.

If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading, please contact us using the details provided in this privacy policy. We will take reasonable steps to correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or out of date.

If you believe that we have breached a relevant data protection law and wish to make a complaint, please contact us using the details below and provide us with full details of the alleged breach. We will promptly investigate your complaint and respond to you, in writing, setting out the outcome of our investigation and the steps we will take to deal with your complaint. You also have the right to contact a regulatory body or data protection authority in relation to your complaint.

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We use “cookies” to collect information about you and your activity across our site. A cookie is a small piece of data that our website stores on your computer, and accesses each time you visit, so we can understand how you use our site. This helps us serve you content based on preferences you have specified.

Limits of Our Policy

Our website may link to external sites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and policies of those sites, and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy practices.

Changes to This Policy

At our discretion, we may change our privacy policy to reflect updates to our organisation processes, current acceptable practices, or legislative or regulatory changes. If we decide to change this privacy policy, we will post the changes here at the same link by which you are accessing this privacy policy.

If required by law, we will get your permission or give you the opportunity to opt in to or opt out of, as applicable, any new uses of your personal information.

Contact Us

For any questions or concerns regarding your privacy, you may contact us using the following details:

info@openrivers.eu

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Molino Del Cabrillas Weir and Molino Bajo Weir, Spain

The removal of these two weirs helped to restore ecological continuity, natural flows of water, sediments and nutrients, and fish farming connectivity.

Introduction

The scope of action is the lower and middle course of the Cabrillas River, within a high-value protected area, the backbone of the Tagus River, which, together with its headwater tributaries, has carved out a set of the most important karstic gorges and canyons in Spain. Due to its geographical isolation, low population density, absence of large urban centres and lack of industrial activity, the area has preserved a great environmental value, recognised as a Natural Park two decades ago.

With more than 1,000 km2, the Alto Tajo is the largest protected area in Spain and is included in the Natura 2000 Network. It includes a great diversity of habitats, river courses, hillside forests, karstic gorges, rocky outcrops and moors, all with great diversity of flora and fauna species of great ecological value, including 20% of the flora species present in the Iberian Peninsula, and numerous protected birds and mammals.

In turn, the wide fluvial space of the Alto Tajo encompasses more than 240 km of main river up to the first regulation reservoir. Species of high conservation value live in these cold-water rivers, such as the crayfish (Austrapotamobius pallipes) or native fish, most of which are endemic to Iberia and protected by European and Spanish legislation, such as Squalius pyrenaicus, Luciobarbus bocagei , Squalius alburnoides, Pseudochondrostoma polylepis and Achondrostoma arcasii. The dominant fishing species is an indigenous salmonid, the brown trout. This species has a population here with a recognised genetic singularity. Due to its reproductive migratory behaviour, it will also be one of the most benefited from the barrier removals. Other valuable species associated with the river, which will be highly favoured by the recovery of fluvial connectivity, are the kingfisher, the dipper, the Iberian desman, the vole water and the European otter.

Project context and opportunity

The actions will contribute significantly to the objective of the European Biodiversity Strategy of 25,000 km of barrier-free rivers.

Removing the dams is expected to positively impact the river ecosystem, helping to restore ecological continuity, restoring natural flows of water, sediments and nutrients, and fish farming connectivity. The removals will especially benefit the aquatic species, particularly the fish species present, the majority with reproductive migratory behaviour. The ecological reconnection with the Tagus is even more important considering the tendency towards the compaction of its substrate, which produces a certain scarcity of adequate spawning areas for fish, which the Cabrillas, however, do have. Concerning the brown trout, the removal of the weirs will allow the spawning area to be increased by more than 25 km of habitat that is more suitable for migrant spawners from the Tagus, and will reduce the fragmentation of the trout population of the Cabrillas itself, favouring the exchange and genetic variability and contributing to the strengthening and resilience of reconnected populations.

The removals will help to improve and consolidate the ecological status, with a particularly positive impact on the fish populations, benefiting recreational fishing and ecotourism.

At a glance

Country Spain
River Cabrillas
Km to be opened 25 in the Cabrillas River, 50 adding the section of the Tagus River
Key habitats Calcareous Mediterranean mountain rivers and surrounding forests
Focal species Squalius pyrenaicus, Luciobarbus bocagei, Squalius alburnoides, Pseudochondrostoma polylepis, Achondrostoma arcasii, Salmo trutta, Alcedo atthis, Cinclus cinclus, Galemys pyrenaicus, Arvicola sapidus and Lutra lutra
Project type Dam removal
Removal Date November/December 2022
Project status Completed
Website https://riosconvida.es/proyecto-open-rivers/

Project aims

The elimination of the two barriers restored ecological continuity to the last 25 km of the Cabrillas River up to its connection with the Tagus River, reestablishing continuity in more than 50% of this body of water in connection with the main axis of the basin. In turn, this fluvial length is also reconnected with the 25 km of the unobstructed section of the Tagus River to which the Cabrillas flows, adding 50 km of barrier-free fluvial courses.

The Molino Bajo Weir removal helped restore the river’s original longitudinal continuity, the associated ecological processes, and the natural landscape to its original state. The Molino del Cabrillas Weir removal helped eliminate the retention and impact due to the barrier effect and returned the original longitudinal continuity to the river and associated ecological processes.

The actions contribute to improving and consolidating the ecological status of the river, with a particularly positive impact on the community of fish and other species linked to the river environment, benefiting recreational fishing and contributing to improving the landscape, tourist and recreational value associated with the use and enjoy the river and its surroundings.

This project is a 2022 Dam Removal Award nominee.

To see the complete project report click here (only available in Spanish).

Project partners

AEMS

Gobierno de Espana

Castilla-La Mancha

Alto Tajo

Latest news updates

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UK Dam Removal Conference – May 18-19

Dam Removal Award – April 4, 2023

2022 Dam Removal Award Nominees

Dam removal – March 27, 2023

Galaxes Weir in Portugal – demolition begins

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