The Ministry of Production and Agroindustry of Río Negro is working on the specifications for the call for tenders for the work of «Modernization and improvements in the irrigation system of Valle de Viedma» which was agreed between the National Economy and the province.
The respective agreement was signed last December by Governor Arabela Carreras within the framework of the national program for Comprehensive Risk Management in the Rural Agroindustrial System (Girsar), It has financing from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Birf), for just over 2.7 million dollars plus a provincial contribution of 744,000 dollars, and an execution period of 18 months.
Of the total amount 2.4 million will be allocated to civil works, $842,000 to goods and $190,000 to consulting and training.
This project is coordinated by the Nation while the Province is in charge of its execution.
Martín Lamot, Secretary of Administration in the Río Negro portfolio explained that “We are working on the assembly of the sheets” that “we hope they will be ready in regarding 15 days” to later “perform the opening in March” and the adjudication “before April”.
Those times are set for allow work between May and September, both this year and next, which is the time when the cuts are made in the irrigation service in the Idevi farms.
According to the project “the works are intended to make the irrigation system more efficient to allow the provision of water in a timely manner for current and future production systems» It includes “the refunctionalization of the intake work, waterproofing of a critical section of the main channel, the expansion of a section of said channel, and the implementation of telemetry points for flow measurement.”
While it is noted that “the works will modernize the system, increase the flow of water to supply a greater number of hectares and fundamentally protect the main channel” and also seeks the institutional strengthening of the Ministry of Production, the DPA and the IDevi regarding “optimizing the management of water resources, construction inspection and environmental and social monitoring” and it was highlighted that the project “does not have negative impacts on the environment” and “contributes to improving the quality of life and health, as well as the mitigation of the risk of drought.
In the provincial body they are working on the respective decree for a second part of the project.
The works will be on 11 kilometers of the Main Channel
in the main shot the five current gates will be replacedmanual action, by other new electromechanical ones.
Regarding the Main Channel, the “reconstitution of the hydraulic section and the regrowth of the cross section” between kilometers 26 and 30 with the stabilization of the slopes and, although it is not expected to be covered, waterproofing is recommended in the second stage, in which work is done on its reinforcement.
In the section between kilometers 34 and 28 there will be «the reconstitution of the hydraulic section, regrowth and waterproofing with geomembrane».
The telemetric points for the measurement of flows will allow improve the operation of the system and the «equity for the distribution of water», while it is planned to carry out a “temporary bypass” at kilometer 41 during the time of the works. This will ensure the water supply for livestock producers located on the right bank of the canal.
Who and what area does the project benefit?
The area where the project will be carried out is little more than 20,000 hectares and 467 producers will benefit.
In this sector there are four well-defined production systems: forager/rancher which occupies 59.8% of the surface, vegetable production, which reaches 19.9 -with a predominance of onion cultivation-; then stands out a 13.9 of cereals and 6.3% for the fruit plantationwith nuts as the most relevant category.
Regarding the producers, 329 are small and medium-sized «whose activity is agricultural and livestock production under irrigation, with a high degree of vulnerability due to the current conditions of water availability for irrigation”, according to the opinion of the technical evaluation.
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