Pantà de Riudecanyes, A reservoir in Riudecanyes, Spain

The Pantà de Riudecanyes is a large water storage reservoir located near the village of Riudecanyes in Catalonia. Surrounded by pine trees and hills, it holds water from the Riudecanyes stream to supply irrigation for the local farmland and nearby towns.

Reus town council commissioned a study in 1897 to secure water for the city and its fields, and the first stone was laid in 1904. The dam, designed by engineer Cayetano Úbeda i Sarrachaga, was finished in 1916 and entered service in 1918. A canal from the Siurana river began operating in 1919, and the dam was raised in 1991 to reach a capacity of 5.3 hm³.

The reservoir is owned by the Comunitat de Regants de Riudecanyes, the irrigation community that has held it since its construction. Its water reaches the fields of the Baix Camp and supplies several towns. On the left bank stand very large eucalyptus trees, and the aquatic vegetation is confined to the tail of the reservoir.

The dam stands just above the village of Riudecanyes, about 40 m high from its base, and the water runs back some 1,500 m to the Molí de Siurana, where the Argentera ravine begins. The stream takes the name Riudecanyes only below the dam, where about ten ravines meet. Look for the large eucalyptus on the left bank.

The dam stands about 40 metres above the village of Riudecanyes, and the reservoir stretches only some 1,500 metres, ending at the Molí de Siurana where the Argentera ravine begins. The Riudecanyes stream itself rises in the reservoir, formed where about ten ravines meet, and takes its name only below the dam.