The Government of the Canary Islands will allocate 850,000 euros to an action that will modernize this hydraulic infrastructure and improve its control and management systems.
Vallehermoso, October 6, 2026. The Government Council of the Canary Islands has declared the work of conditioning the La Encantadora dam, in Vallehermoso, of interest to the Autonomous Community, a necessary preliminary step to advance the execution of works that have an investment of 850,000 euros, included in the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands for 2026.
The action will improve an infrastructure of special importance for the municipality and for the management of water intended for irrigation, reinforcing its safety conditions and modernizing the systems that allow control and management of flows. Among the planned actions is the replacement of existing valves, the adaptation of the drainage and emptying systems to adapt them to current regulations, as well as the renewal of the electrical and monitoring installations of the dam.
These works will improve the measurement, control and management systems of inlet and outlet flows, favoring more efficient use of water resources and better operating conditions of the infrastructure.
The mayor of Vallehermoso, Emiliano Coello, valued that "the declaration of interest for this action represents an important step to be able to advance in the improvement of La Encantadora, a fundamental infrastructure for our municipality and especially for the agricultural sector." Coello highlighted that "we are talking about an investment of 850,000 euros that will allow essential elements of the dam to be modernized, improve its safety and have better water control systems, something essential to more efficiently manage such an important resource for Vallehermoso."
Likewise, the mayor pointed out that "we will continue working and collaborating with the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo and the Insular Water Council so that the necessary actions in our hydraulic infrastructures can advance and have a direct impact on the improvement of services and the development of our municipality."
A key infrastructure for irrigation
The dams of La Gomera play a fundamental role in water management for agriculture, since they allow runoff water to be captured and stored during the winter period for later use in irrigation.
The age of a good part of these infrastructures, which is around 50 years old, makes it necessary to develop modernization and conditioning actions that allow them to be adapted to current security, control and management requirements. In the case of La Encantadora, the intervention will make it possible to incorporate improvements aimed at optimizing the management of water resources and strengthening the operation of an infrastructure directly linked to the use of water for irrigation in Vallehermoso.
The project has been worked on in a coordinated manner between the Government of the Canary Islands, the Island Council of La Gomera and the Island Water Council, taking into account the technical complexity of the infrastructure and the experience obtained in other actions carried out on the island.
The action is included in the Hydrological Plan of the La Gomera Hydrographic Demarcation, corresponding to the third planning cycle 2021-2027. Within this framework, the Government of the Canary Islands has developed modernization actions at the Chejelipes, Izcagüe and Palacios dams, in addition to action to guarantee the transfer of flows between the Mulagua and Liria dams, contributing to improving the management of water intended for irrigation.
The declaration of interest of the Autonomous Community in the La Encantadora work now allows progress towards the execution of an action that will mean an improvement in the security, control and management of water in a reference infrastructure for Vallehermoso and its agricultural activity.
