Mequinenza reservoir

Ebro river · Ebro Basin · dam built in 1966 · latest official reading: 6 October 2026.

Fill level
57.5 %
−0.4 points this week
Stored volume
789 hm³
Capacity
1,373 hm³
Historical average, this week
63.3 %
−5.8 points vs today

How the Mequinenza reservoir stands right now

Mequinenza is currently at 57.5 % of capacity, about normal for the time of year. The week-41 average across 38 years of records is 63.3 %, a difference of −5.8 points.

For context: a year ago it stood at 50.2 % and a month ago at 63.0 %. Against last week’s reading it is falling (−0.4 points).

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Blue line: average monthly filling across the whole record, from 1988. The dot marks today’s reading, 57.5 % in October.

The yearly cycle of Mequinenza

With 2,023 weekly readings since 1988, the average pattern of Mequinenza is clear: it peaks in May at 88.3 % and bottoms out in October at 63.2 %. That 25-point range makes it a reservoir with a marked annual swing, typical of heavy irrigation use.

Highs and lows since 1988

The highest reading in the whole series is 100.5 %, on 10 March 2015, and the lowest 20.8 %, on 8 November 2022. Comparing today against those two extremes says more than the bare percentage: 50 % is good news in a pool that rarely tops 60 %, and bad news in one that is usually full.

Its weight within the Ebro basin

At 1,373 hm³ of capacity it is the largest of the 76 dams the bulletin tracks in the Ebro basin, holding 17.6 % of the whole demarcation’s capacity on its own. The basin as a whole is at 45.4 % today, so this reservoir is running above the basin as a whole.

The bulletin classifies it as a hydropower reservoir. That matters when reading the percentage: these pools fill and empty with electricity demand rather than the irrigation calendar, so a sharp drop does not necessarily mean scarcity.

Specifications

River
Ebro
Demarcation
Ebro Basin
Name in the bulletin
Mequinenza
Usable capacity
1,373 hm³
Volume at the last reading
789 hm³
Fill level
57.5 %
Weekly change
−0.4 points
Rank in the basin
1 of 76 dams
Rank in Spain
7 of 375 dams
Main use
Hydropower
Dam completed
1966
Record available
since 5 January 1988 (2,023 readings)
Last updated
6 October 2026

Where it is

Where these figures come from

The figures on this page come from the official MITECO reservoir archive, the same database behind Spain’s weekly hydrological bulletin. The bulletin covers every mainland reservoir above 5 hm³ of capacity and is published every Tuesday with Monday’s reading.

The latest reading here is from 6 October 2026, and the comparison series starts in 1988. Nothing is estimated, interpolated or forecast: the percentage is stored volume divided by the usable capacity the bulletin itself assigns to the dam. Historical averages are computed over the same calendar week in every previous year, the only fair comparison in a system with such marked seasonality.

Other reservoirs in the Ebro basin

See the whole demarcation, with all 76 dams the bulletin tracks: Ebro Basin.