Douro

Douro basin district

Where is it located?

It includes the territory of the Douro River hydrographic basin, the transitional waters of the Porto estuary and the associated Atlantic coasts.

The international river basin district of the Duero is the largest in the Iberian Peninsula with 98,103 km2. It includes the territory of the Duero River hydrographic basin, as well as the transitional waters in the Porto estuary and the associated Atlantic coasts. It is a territory shared between Portugal (19.6% of the territory) and Spain (80.4%). There are around 400 linear km of border between Spain and Portugal crossed by different fluvial axes, highlighting the Duero itself, and creating enclaves such as the striking Los Arribes canyon along about 100 km.

The territory of the Douro hydrographic basin is distributed in 7 Autonomous Communities of Spain: Castilla y León, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla – La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Community of Madrid and Asturias; and by the Portuguese districts of Braganza, Guarda, Vila Real, Viseu, Porto and Aveiro. Territories include surface water, groundwater and coastal waters, as well as protected areas and artificial and highly modified bodies.

Both the fluvial courses and the morphological formations configure, along the border that crosses this hydrographic demarcation, three well-differentiated spaces. On the one hand, the Galician-Leonese space, where we can find rivers that are born in the Spanish Hercynian massif and flow towards Portugal, either with a border route or flowing directly into the Duero. On the other hand, we find Los Arribes, the space occupied by a spectacular canyon excavated by the Duero River itself, with a drop from 564 meters above sea level. This unique territory is modified by hydroelectric dams and has several protection figures. Lastly, we can find the territory of Águeda, where the border follows the course of the river Turones until the confluence with the Águeda.

On the Portuguese side, the Duero Hydrographic Region occupies the first place in dimension among the basins of the national or international rivers that cross the country.

Given its extension, this Duero Hydrographic Region – RH3 includes 74 municipalities, 47 of which are fully included in this RH and 27 partially covered.

With regard to the hydrographic network, given the displacement of the course of the Duero River towards the south of the “axis” of the basin, the main tributaries on the right bank are usually larger than those on the left bank. Among the main Portuguese tributaries of the Duero, the Sabor, the Tua and the Tâmega stand out on the right bank, while on the left bank we have the Côa and Paiva rivers.

It is worth mentioning some tectonic-structural elements such as the fault corridors in Régua and Vilariça and the load-bearing mantles in the Braga area.

2022-2027 Hydrological Plan

The hydrological plan for the Spanish part of the Douro Basin District currently in force was approved by Real Decreto 1/2016, January 8, approving the revision of the Hydrological Plans for the basins districts of Guadalquivir, Ceuta, Melilla, Segura, Júcar and Western Cantabrian, and for the Spanish part of the basins districts of Miño-Sil, Duero, Tajo, Guadiana, Ebro and Eastern Cantabrian Sea, in compliance with article 83 of Royal Decree 907/2007, of July 6, which approves the Hydrological Planning Regulations.

On December 22, 2021, the public consultation period for the Draft Hydrological Plan Project for the Spanish part of the Douro River Basin for the period 2022-2027 ended. After that period, the proposals, observations and suggestions that, where appropriate, are considered appropriate will be incorporated into the hydrological plan project proposal, which will require the mandatory report of the Water Council of the demarcation. Said hydrological plan project proposal, with the agreement of the Committee of Competent Authorities on the program of measures in its corresponding sphere of competence, will be submitted to the Government through the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, for its approval. The approval of this new review will lead to the repeal of the second cycle Hydrological Plan, approved by Royal Decree 1/2016, of January 8. Once this review has been formalized, it will be notified to the European Commission, a milestone that must occur no later than March 22, 2022.

In Portugal, currently, the Management Plan of the Douro Basin District in force was approved by Ministry Council Resolution, n.º 52/2016, September 20, corrected by Declaration of Rectification No. 22-B/2016, of November 18, through which the Management Plans of the Hydrographic Region of Continental Portugal for the period 2016-2021 are approved.

Currently, work is being done on the revision of the aforementioned Plan for the period 2022-2027. During the first half of 2021, the projects of the Management Plans of the Hydrographic Regions were submitted to public consultation for a period of six months. The final versions of these plans will be published with a deadline of December 22, 2021.

What are the shared water bodies under study?

Rivers and reservoirs

SPAIN Code

ES020MSPF000000352

ES020MSPF000200678

ES020MSPF000200714

ES020MSPF000200712

ES020MSPF000200713

ES020MSPF000200509

ES020MSPF000200679

ES020MSPF000000254

ES020MSPF000000634

ES020MSPF000000525

ES020MSPF000000270

ES020MSPF000000256

ES020MSPF000000267

ES020MSPF000000255

ES020MSPF000000282

ES020MSPF000000700

ES020MSPF000000240

ES020MSPF000000224

ES020MSPF000000239

ES020MSPF000000564

ES020MSPF000000581

ES020MSPF000000611

ES020MSPF000000563

ES020MSPF000000802

ES020MSPF000000807

ES020MSPF000000803

ES020MSPF000000809

PORTUGAL Code

PT03DOU0205

PT03DOU0328

PT03DOU0295

PT03DOU0245

PT03DOU0275

PT03DOU0371

PT03DOU0415

PT03DOU0141

PT03DOU0502

PT03DOU0426I1

PT03DOU0149

PT03DOU0141

PT03DOU0148

PT03DOU0157

PT03DOU0143

PT03DOU0144I

PT03DOU0189N

PT03DOU0226IA

PT03DOU0152

PT03DOU0180

PT03DOU0426I2

PT03DOU0475I

PT03DOU0491

PT03DOU0426I2

PT03DOU0145I

PT03DOU0208I

PT03DOU0189I

PT03DOU0159IA

ES / PT Name

Arroyo de Prado Nuevo, arroyo del Manzanal, ribeira Prateira y arroyo de la Ribera desde cabecera hasta confluencia con el embalse (albufeira) de Miranda / Ribeira da Prateira

Embalse Aldeadávila / Albufeira de Aldeadavila

Embalse Bemposta / Albufeira de Bemposta

Embalse Miranda / Albufeira de Miranda

Embalse Picote / Albufeira de Picote

Embalse de Pocinho / Albufeira do Pocinho

Embalse Saucelle / Albufeira de Saucelle

Regueiro das Veigas desde cabecera hasta frontera con Portugal / Rio Assureira

Río Águeda desde cabecera hasta el embalse de Irueña, y río del Payo. Rivera de Lajeosa y regato del Rubioso / Ribeira da Lajeosa

Río Águeda desde confluencia con la Ribera Dos Casas hasta el embalse de Pociño / Rio Águeda

Río Calabor desde cabecera hasta frontera con Portugal / Rio Sabor

Río de Cadávos desde cabecera hasta frontera con Portugal / Rio Assureira

Río de la Gamoneda desde cabecera hasta frontera con Portugal / Rio Baceiro

Río del Fontano desde cabecera hasta frontera con Portugal, y arroyos de las Palomas y Chana / Rio de Onor

Río Manzanas desde aguas arriba del pueblo de Ríomanzanas hasta el comienzo del tramo fronterizo con Portugal, y río Guadramil y arroyo de Valdecarros / Ribeira de Guadramil

Río Porto do Rei Búbal desde frontera con Portugal hasta confluencia con Villaza, y regato do Biduedo y ríos da Azoreira y dos Muiños / Rio Porto de Rei

Río San Lourenzo desde cabecera hasta la frontera con Portugal, y ríos Pentes, Abredo y afluentes / Rio Rabaçal

Río Támega desde confluencia con río Vilaza hasta confluencia con río Pequeno o de Feces (en frontera de Portugal), y río Vilaza, regatos de Aberta Nova y Regueirón / Rio Tâmega

Río Támega desde confluencia con río Vilaza hasta confluencia con río Pequeno o de Feces (en frontera de Portugal), y río Vilaza, y regatos de Aberta Nova y Regueirón / Ribeira de Cambedo

Río Tuela y afluentes desde cabecera hasta la frontera de Portugal / Rio Tuela

Río Turones desde límite LIC y ZEPA “Arribes del Duero” hasta confluencia con la rivera de Dos Casas / Ribeira de Tourões

Río Turones desde punto donde hace frontera con Portugal hasta límite LIC y ZEPA “Arribes del Duero” (tramo fronterizo) / Ribeira de Tourões

Rivera de Azaba desde confluencia con rivera de los Pasiles hasta confluencia con rivera del Sestil, y afluentes / Ribeira de Nave de Haver

Rivera de Dos Casas desde límite del LIC y ZEPA “Arribes del Duero” hasta confluencia con el río Águeda / Ribeira de Tourões

Tramo fronterizo del río da Azoreira / Rio Assureira

Tramo fronterizo del río Manzanas / Rio Maçãs

Tramo fronterizo del río Mente / Rio Mente

Tramo fronterizo del río Pequeño o río de Feces / Ribeira de Feces

ES / PT Category

Río / Rio

Río / Rio (Albufeira)

Río / Rio

ES / PT Nature

Natural / Natural

Muy modificada / Fortemente modificada

Natural / Natural

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Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
through the Interreg VA Spain-Portugal Programme (POCTEP) 2014-2020