With the installation of two new telepluviometers, EUROCLIMA's Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucia Urban Water Basin project will be able to measure rainfall in real time in the basin region.
July 15, 2023. Montevideo, Uruguay. Two new telepluviometers in the Santa Lucía River Basin in Uruguay will strengthen the real-time measurement of rainfall in the area. The incorporation of these devices was carried out by technical staff of the Ministry of Environment and the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet) as part of the project "Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucía Basin", of the Urban Water sector of the European Union's EUROCLIMA program.
These devices are incorporated into a network of 93 telepluviometers and 24 automatic weather stations managed by the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology (Inumet), which cover a large part of the country, improving the high temporal frequency measurement of precipitation.
"Adaptation in Action", through the Situation Room of the National Water Directorate, employs three management models of the European Institute of Applied Research (DELTARES) in conjunction with various Uruguayan entities with competence in water,
environment, and climate change: the hydrological, quality and water management model. The incorporation of this equipment strengthens the real-time monitoring of rainfall in the basin and, additionally, the measured data feed the hydrological models in Dinagua's Situation Room.
Since 2021, through institutional cooperation between the National Water Directorate (Dinagua) of the Ministry of Environment and Inumet, technical assistance was provided for the acquisition of this type of instruments within the framework of the project. To define the locations of the sensors, with the support of technical personnel from the Pluviometry, Calibration and Maintenance Division and Technical Management of Inumet, the sites for the installation of the equipment were surveyed.
These telepluviometers were installed in police departments located in Reboledo (Florida) and La Calera (Lavalleja). A third telepluviometer will soon be installed in a rural school near the city of Santa Rosa in the Department of Canelones.
During the installation process, meteorologist Vanessa Ferreira was present on behalf of Dinagua, together with Gabriel Guigou from Inumet and technicians from Nettra, the company awarded the tender.
The "Adaptation in Action - Santa Lucía Basin" project is financed by the EUROCLIMA program, which seeks to strengthen the resilience of the Montevideo metropolitan area, as well as that of the urban localities of the Santa Lucía River basin to the impacts of climate variability and change, focusing efforts on an integrated management of water resources. This project is led by Dinagua of the Ministry of Environment and is financed by the European Union through the implementing agencies of the Urban Water sector: the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
EUROCLIMA is a program funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate resilient development in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Program is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), French Development Agency (AFD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and UN Environment.