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Baells Dam Information Centre

General view of the Baells dam

This panel describes the main features of the Baells dam very clearly. The dam is a basic infrastructure that creates a reservoir, it is a wall which blocks and contains the water on its way to the sea. It means that the water can be used and regulated. The dam is without doubt the single most important infrastructure in a reservoir.

This aerial photograph shows that we are in the pre-Pyrenean region which gathers the water for a very large area of land — the Llobregat basin (532 km2)— of rivers, tributaries, rain, snow… The Llobregat therefore serves a crucial regulatory purpose, because it means that water can be directed to the delta and valley of the Llobregat, where there is a lot of farmland and a large population.

We are in the pre-Pyrenean range, which explains why the dam was built here. Geography is decisive, and this geologically and geographically diverse area is made up of a series of ranges that characterise this region. The Catllaràs range, with its highest peak (el Sobrepany) and many places to hike and explore; the Picancel range, which separates Lower and Upper Berguedà and the valley of Vilada and, on the Berga side, the mountains of Figuerassa. The dam can be seen from all these points as well as the impressive bridge, which was for many years the highest in Spain.

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