The water and the land.

During the LTTA we organize activities with the aim of understanding agriculture and its relationship with the region.

Ornithological Center and route to El Chivo

The visit to the Ornithological Center had a double function.

The first of them was of a protocol type: a welcome to the municipality that coordinates the project.

The second function is that these facilities have adequate information panels to understand the peculiarities of water in this region and knowing the water is essential to know that agriculture is possible in the territory. Given that it is an artificial reservoir but also a Natura 2000 Network, it is also a very suitable place to learn about the complex relationship between the economic needs of the population and the need to conserve the environment.

Another issue that can be dealt with perfectly in this place is the complexity of river basin management. The reason why this reservoir was built was to control the flooding of the Ebro, since its basin was, and still is, one of the most fertile in Spain. Many years the harvest ended up lost because the Ebro, which is the largest river in the country, completely flooded the farmland. To control these floods, this dam was built that left three villages under water whose inhabitants were displaced. This fact continues to be important for the local population since the idea of ​​being the one who suffers so that others benefit remains very ingrained.

This is a clear example of the social problem of water management that is inherent in any agricultural area, since water is a common good but with very different demands.

Any agricultural project carried out in this area must take into account the Ebro reservoir but also that the water it stores must be available for other agricultural areas with different water needs, some of the most important tourist areas in Spain and towns different volume and even varied climatology. It is clear that a river is much more than the shore next to which we live.

On this visit we were accompanied by Beatriz García Álvarez from Naturea Cantabria, Paloma Prieto Crespo from the Office of European Projects of the Government of Cantabria and Miguel Ángel Toca Gutiérrez, councilor of the Campoo de Yuso City Council and responsible for this project.

Beatriz García Álvarez from Natura Cantabria joined us again to guide us on a route to the top of the Sierra del Cordel where the hostel was.

During the access, Beatriz explained the typical flora and fauna of these mountains. Thanks to the presence of cows and horses, she was also able to explain the importance of livestock in the south of Cantabria and the peculiarities of the system of management and ownership of the mountains that we know as “communal”. The different towns of the region are owners of the mountains, each one has assigned their own, and they have the right to make use of the resources of said mountains. That is the reason why you can see cows and horses freely grazing on the mountain alongside deer and near chamois.

In addition to all that, this visit had as its main objective to see the traces of glacialism in Campoo. From the top of these mountains you have a panoramic view of the valley and it is much easier to understand how the snow that accumulates in these mountains during the winter filters into underground aquifers and feeds the Ebro and its tributaries until it reaches the reservoir that we had seen this morning. These underground water deposits are the main supply and reserve of water for the Ebro reservoir.

It is precisely this glacial erosion and subsequent sedimentation that generates the different types of soil and conditions the crops to be grown.

In the first day it has already been possible to make a vision on the ground of two of the basic pillars of agriculture: water and soil.

The objective was not for the participants to learn the specific characteristics of the region, but for them to understand that these two issues are extremely complex and require in-depth and specific study and attention in each place.