The Tagus-Segura Water Transfer (Spanish: Trasvase Tajo-Segura) is one of the largest works of hydraulic engineering ever produced in Spain. Water from the Tagus River is channeled through this transfer system from the reservoirs of Entrepeñas (Province of Guadalajara) and Buendía (Province of Cuenca) into the Talave Reservoir on the Segura River.
History Although it was mentioned as early as 1902, the origin of the transfer system dates back to 1932, when the Minister of Public Works Indalecio Prieto entrusted engineer Manuel Lorenzo Pardo with the formulation of a plan for the management of national water resources. A year later, he presented the Plan Nacional de Obras Hidráulicas (National Plan of Hydraulic Works), which included the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer; however, for various reasons, the plan was never realized. The transfer system project was resumed through the Ministerial Order of July 30, 1966, which commissioned the drafting of the Anteproyecto General del Aprovechamiento Conjunto de los Recursos Hidráulicos del Centro y Sureste de España, Complejo Tajo-Segura (General Proposal for the Joint Management of Hydraulic Resources in Central and Southeastern Spain, Tagus-Segura System). The construction of the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer formed an integral part of this proposal. In 1979, the Segura Basin received the first waters originating from the Tagus River.
Course The Tagus-Segura Water Transfer links the Bolarque Reservoir on the Tagus River (40°21′41″N 2°49′14″W) with the Talave Reservoir on the Segura (38°31′10″N 1°54′00″W). It is 292 kilometers (181 miles) in length and has a flow rate of 33 cubic meters per second (1,200 cubic feet per second). The transfer's structure comprises four sections: Section I includes the ascent at Altomira, a key piece in explaining the energy efficiency of the transfer system. It permits water from the Bolarque Reservoir at 636 meters (2,087 feet) to be pumped through two metallic pipes up to the Bujeda Reservoir in the Sierra de Altomira, a 245 m (804 ft) rise in elevation. This task is accomplished by the reversible pumped-storage plant Bolarque II, which relies on four vertical generator assemblies with their corresponding Francis pump-turbines, capable of pumping 66 m3/s (2,300 cu ft/s). The Bolarque-Bujeda system was designed to pump an anticipated 1,000,000,000 m3 (810,000 acre-feet) per year. Section II connects the Bujeda Reservoir to the Alarcón Reservoir on the Júcar River, an intermediate resting place where the transfer's flow can be regulated and compensation can be made in case of system disruption. Section III joins the Alarcón Reservoir to the Talave Tunnel. Section IV is for the most part formed by the Talave Tunnel's length of 32 km (20 mi), which runs at varying depths between 150 m (490 ft) and 320 m (1,050 ft). The course then emerges into the Talave Canal, which leads at last to the Talave Reservoir on the Mundo River, a tributary of the Segura.
Regulation Law 21/2013 introduced major changes to the Tagus-Segura Water Transfer's regulation policy. These changes, while maintaining the source basin's precedence and respecting the specifications of its resource planning, are meant to improve system management by establishing a set of impartial technical standards to eliminate previous insecurities and to provide objective, straightforward criteria for operation. Water is dispensed into the transfer system on a monthly basis, depending on the total water supply available in the reservoirs of Entrepeñas and Buendía at the beginning of every month. Four levels are used to specify the distribution volume for each transfer, with a maximum annual total of 650,000,000 m3 (530,000 acre⋅ft) per water year (600,000,000 (490,000) for the Segura and 50,000,000 (41,000) for the Guadiana). Level 1. When the total water supply in Entrepeñas and Buendía is equal to or greater than 1,300,000,000 m3 (1,100,000 acre⋅ft), or when the total inflow of these reservoirs in the previous twelve months is equal to or greater than 1,200,000,000 m3 (970,000 acre⋅ft), the relevant agency shall authorize a transfer of 60,000,000 m3 (49,000 acre⋅ft), not exceeding the yearly maximum. Level 2. When the total water supply in Entrepeñas and Buendía is less than 1,300,000,000 m3 (1,100,000 acre⋅ft) without reaching the volumes given in Level 3, and the total inflow recorded in the previous twelve months is less than 1,200,000,000 m3 (970,000 acre⋅ft), the relevant agency shall authorize a transfer of 38,000,000 m3 (31,000 acre⋅ft), not exceeding the yearly maximum. Level 3. Assigned when the total water supply in Entrepeñas and Buendía does not exceed, at the beginning of the month, the values shown in the following table:
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