The Cabildo de Tenerife, through the public company Balsas de Tenerife (Balten), has started the process for contracting the waterproofing of the Taco Mountain Raft, in the municipality of Buenavista del Norte, for almost 1.7 million .
The Island Councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, explains that it is the largest reservoir of irrigation water on the Island, with a total of 821,739 cubic metres, and that it is essential for agriculture on the Low Island.
Parrilla emphasizes that “this is the fifth draft action related to the maintenance of the rafts of Tenerife, after that of Valle Molina, in Tegueste; El Saltadero, in Granadilla; Llanos de Mesa, in San Juan de la Rambla, and Benijos, in La Orotava, currently under construction”.
According to the island official, the periodic control of the rafts carried out by Balten, suspended in the previous mandate and restarted in August 2019, confirms that the geomembrane of the Taco Mountain raft suffers deterioration in the area of greatest contact with the water, hence the need to re-waterproof it.
The works will be divided into three phases. The first contemplates the acquisition of the waterproofing sheets and has an estimated initial cost of 700,000 euros; while the next two will consist of the placement of the sheets in the 85,000 square meters of surface of the reservoir.
“In order to supply water during the execution of the work, in the second phase the first seven meters of the pond will be waterproofed, with the aim of allowing it to be filled up to that level and, later, in the third, the six meters of height remaining until the crowning of the glass”, explains Parrilla.
The Taco Mountain Raft was the first to be built within the works programmed in the North Tenerife Plan for Rafts, between April 1983 and October 1985. With a capacity of 821,739 cubic meters and a water height of 13.70 meters , is the largest reservoir of irrigation water on the island, and its waterproofing will cover the entire reservoir.
The public entity Balten has been carrying out periodic tests with the membranes that cover the island’s rafts, by virtue of the agreement signed with the Center for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works (CEDEX). From this monitoring, which has intensified as of August 2019, the need to intervene is gathered.
