The state-owned company Aguas de las Cuencas Mediterráneas, Acuamed, which depends on the Ministry of Environment, has awarded the contract to decontaminate the Flix reservoir in Tarragona to FCC Construcción in a joint venture with FCC Ámbito. This reservoir in the Flix district on the river Ebro currently contains a considerable amount of polluted silt that has built up over the course of a century of industrial activity on the right bank. The problem became even more acute when the  Mequinenza, Ribarroja and Flix reservoirs were built.

The works, with a budget of over €190 M, are scheduled to be underway by the early summer and expected to take 42 months to carry out.  The task is to extract almost a million cubic metres of polluted waste, de-pollution treatment and transport to a controlled landfill site six kilometres away. The watercourse will then be restored.

The waste can be divided into three main groups: organochlorates, heavy metals (mostly mercury) and radio nucleides, which have built up mostly along 1,300 metres of the frontage of the industrial plant on right bank of the reservoir, extending some 300 metres into the water.

This action has been declared to be of general, priority and urgent interest, and is in  line with the principles of the AGUA (Water Management and Use Actions) Programme, which includes actions to improve water management and supply according to existing and future needs with a view to the sustainable development of specific areas.