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2022 IAHR Industry Innovation Award & IAHR Hydro-environment World Heritage Award

The IAHR Hydro-Environment Heritage Award and IAHR Industry Award are conferred by IAHR during the IAHR Word Congress on a local infrastructure of lasting and international importance and on recent local innovation in design of lasting and international importance respectively. They have the purpose of giving international professional recognition to the work of local hydro-environment engineers, and should be accepted and valued nationally.

IAHR Hydro-Environment World Heritage Award

IAHR confers the 2022 the IAHR Hydro-Environment World Heritage Award to the

Conde del Guadalhorce" Dam (Andalusian Regional Government) 


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21 May 2022 marked 101 years since King Alfonso XII laid the last stone that completed the construction of the Conde del Guadalhorce Dam, more popularly known as the "presa del Chorro", a spectacular infrastructure 72 metres high and capable of creating a reservoir with a capacity of 80 million cubic metres. The king himself, admiring the grandeur and usefulness of the dam, granted its main engineer, Rafael Benjumea, the title of “Conde Guadalhorce”. More than one hundred years later, the importance and value of the work for the development of the province of Malaga has been demonstrated, being an example of a solution to the driest areas of Spain. This dam is currently managed by the Andalusian Regional Government.  

 

It was built between 1914 and 1921 as part of the ambitious hydroelectric plant that supplied electricity and drinking water to Malaga. Its work, of unbeatable aesthetics, combines functionality and landscape integration, despite its monumentality. This infrastructure was a transcendental element for the progress of the province, bringing Malaga into the era of modernisation, putting an end to endemic problems such as the lack of water resources for human consumption, agriculture, and farming, as well as feeding the Guadalhorce Valley. It is now a major tourist attraction and forms part of a privileged environment such as the “Caminito del Rey”, which is seeking World Heritage status.  

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In its day, this dam was a masterpiece of hydroelectric development and was recognised as such in 1921 by King Alfonso XIII, who travelled there to sign the act of completion on a chair and table carved out of the same limestone rock that covers the entire construction site. The visit took place on 21 May 1921 and, in addition to the photos (Figure 1) and publications of the time, the original armchair and table, which have become one of the main attractions of this dam, have been preserved. 

 

The reservoir occupies 546 hectares, with a length of more than nine kilometres that gives an extraordinary beauty to its surroundings, occupied, on the right bank, by a pine forest that is dedicated, in the last three kilometres, to camping and nautical areas (Figure 2). It currently holds up to 80 cubic hectometres, exclusively dedicated to supplying the city of Malaga. 


Learn more about the IAHR Hydro-Environment World Heritage Award<<


IAHR Industry Innovation Award

IAHR confers the 2022 the IAHR Industry Innvovation Award to:

EMASAGRA, climate neutrality in the water cycle sector 


Emasagra is an organisation that integrates sustainability, at an integral level, with its strategy. Its commitment to social, environmental, and good governance aspects, creating alliances in the local environment where it operates, has led it to be considered a benchmark in its sector.  

 

Within the development and implementation of its global strategic plan, the focus has been placed on the Circular Economy and the Decarbonisation of the activity. The “Biofactoría Sur Granada” (former EDAR Sur) is the circular economy model that has had the greatest impact. This model has been consolidated after gaining worldwide recognition by receiving the Momentum for Change award from the United Nations (UN).  

 

This model is based on the use of the processes themselves and their waste to generate energy resources and raw materials. The award was presented at a ceremony during COP24 in Katowice (Poland). At COP25, the Granada biofactory was presented as a model of success. This model has also been published in the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform as a good practice. This platform of European circular economy stakeholders aims to achieve this objective and go beyond sectoral networks.   

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The Biofactory is the beginning of Emasagra's new challenge for the Decarbonisation of its activity, integrated in its Strategic Plan. Emasagra is the first company in the Integrated Water Cycle sector to achieve neutrality considering direct and indirect emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3), winning the Environmental Award of the Andalusian Regional Government in the Climate Change category. Likewise, the Biofactoría Sur Granada has been the germ and the model for the Circular Economy Governance in Cities project carried out with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Granada. This model has also been presented in various international projects:  

 

  • Colour Circle together with the Granada local government.  

  • International Urban Cooperation Projects (IURC) with Arequipa (Peru) and Chian Mai (Thailand).  

  • Participation in the United Cities and Local Governments Forum UCGL in Daejeon.  

  • Intelligent Cities Challenge  

 

 At the international level, there has been interest in the facility:  

  • Experts from Iraq Government, with the support of its Delegation in the European Union, derived from the project "Water Monitoring Task Force".  

  • Visit of representatives of the administration of Montenegro, from the Ministries of Economy, Transport, Sustainable Development and Tourism, within the EUROPAID project.  

  • Visit of the Provincial Delegation of the Government of Gyeonggi in the Republic of South Korea.  

  • Visit of the Korean Delegation of the city of Bucheon.  


Learn more about the IAHR Industry Innovation Award<<

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