The 14 de Julho dam, located on the Rio das Antas, between the municipalities of Cotiporã and Bento Gonçalves, is at real risk of failure if the rains continue. The information was confirmed by Governor Eduardo Leite, during a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon at the state Civil Defense headquarters, in Porto Alegre.
According to the governor, if the situation is confirmed, a series of locations will be affected. Among them are Cotiporã, São Valentim, Santa Bárbara, Santa Tereza and Muçum, before continuing along the Taquari River until reaching other municipalities.
Therefore, a series of actions are being carried out with Companhia Energética do Rio das Antas (Ceran) and municipal authorities and forces in the locations that may eventually be affected. “We requested the flood spots from the company responsible so that we can publicize them, but it is ongoing. These dams have plans for situations like this, which have been underway for some time, warning Civil Defense and local authorities to evacuate communities that could be affected”, he explained.
According to Leite, the protocol in relation to the dam is ongoing as long as there is a level of attention, alert and responsibilities regarding this. “Every dam has a license conditioned on a plan that must be in place when levels reach certain conditions. So, alerts are made, sirens are activated and the population that may be affected is registered to issue alerts and all of this is ongoing under the responsibility of the owners, but with the monitoring of Civil Defense”, he stated.
In addition to the 14 de Julho dam, there are also alerts for other of these structures that, until the end of the afternoon, did not present a risk of failure, but cause concern:
- Toropi Complex – covers dams at Quebra-Dentes, Salto do Guassupi, Cachoeira Cinco Veados and Rincão de São Miguel, on the Toropi and Guassupi rivers. The Civil Defense of the municipalities of São Pedro do Sul, Quevedos, São Martinho das Serra, Toropi and Mata were notified at the alert and emergency level.
- Hidrotérmica SA – Boa Fé, São Paulo and Autódromo dams, located on the Carreiro river;
- Jararaca and Ilha dams, located on the Rio da Prata;
- Palanquinho and Criúva dams, located on the Lajeado Grande river.
- All of them are located in the Taquari/Antas river basin and are also difficult to access, due to the high volumes of rainfall in the regions;
There is also monitoring with the Putinga, AUD de Camaquã, Capané de Cachoeira do Sul and Dona Francisca dams.
