Malaga dams forced to release water as reservoirs reach safety limits following Storm Leonardo
Five of the province's seven reservoirs are now proactively discharging water to prevent overflows as storage levels surge toward 500 million cubic metres
Chus Heredia / N. H.
Malaga.
Friday, 6 February 2026, 15:09
Most of the reservoirs supplying the Costa del Sol were having to release water this week for safety reasons, as rainwater flowed straight off already saturated ground into the upland rivers that feed them. With Storm Leonardo hitting mountainous areas, especially in the west of Malaga province, memories of the days of parched lake beds from the drought faded more into the distance.
Engineers have been facing the challenge of maintaining a safety margin to ensure dams do not overflow, while trying to preserve the amount of water stored for this drought-prone area. All that is having to be managed with the risk of, on one hand, more water flowing into reservoirs from further rainfall in the coming days and, on the other hand, these increased "safety" outflows from dams flooding land downstream towards the sea.
Five of the seven reservoirs in Malaga province were being proactively managed this way this week. The latest to be included was the Guadalteba, part of the system supplying the Guadalhorce valley towns and Malaga city. It had reached 90 per cent of its capacity, meaning it was too risky not to release some water.
Only a year and a half ago, Malaga province had just over 100 million cubic metres of reserves. This week it was on its way to having 500 million cubic metres.
Safety margins
Each reservoir has an official safety margin. For La Concepción, supplying the western Costa, this is 19 per cent, meaning that when it reaches 81 per cent, some water needs to be released.
The Guadalhorce system, a network of a few interlinked reservoirs also supplying Malaga city, has the added complication for engineers of its flow supporting the hydroelectric facilities at Los Gaitanes and Tajo de la Encantada (by the Caminito del Rey gorge walkway).
As yet, the biggest reservoir in Malaga province, La Viñuela, serving the Axarquía and eastern Costa, is some way from being full, at around 65 per cent this week.
Overall, the seven reservoirs across the province were at around 80 per cent capacity this week, compared to 45 per cent in November.
