Integrated Harvest Control System

The holders of water rights are obliged to install and maintain a volumetric control system that allows the measurement of the volumes of water captured, the returns and the discharges into the same, including, where appropriate, the volumes reused, together with a system for the electronic registration, storage and transmission of the information generated.

The regulatory development of this obligation is established in Order TED/1191/2024, of October 24, by which They regulate the electronic control systems for the volumes of water used by water uses, returns, and discharges into the public hydraulic domain, which replaces the previous Order ARM/1312/2009. This order develops the technical design of the volumetric control systems for uses and establishes the frequency of sending the aforementioned information to the Hydrographic Confederations, either periodically or even in real time for large water uses associated, as a general rule, with important hydraulic infrastructures.

Three categories are established for uses based on the maximum annual volume authorized in the enabling title and regardless of the number of intakes and the maximum annual volumes authorized for these, in accordance with the following table:

In 2014, Law 32/2014 of December 22, on Metrology, developed by Royal Decree 244/2016 of June 3, was enacted, establishing revised regulations for measurements, their units of measurement and equipment used to carry them out, as well as their periodic verification and calibration.

And in 2020, Order ICT/155/2020 of February 7, regulates the Metrological Control of measuring instruments, detailing in its ANNEX III the regulation of meters for exclusive use for the management of the Public Hydraulic Domain, specifying their conditions for placing on the market, marking, and useful life.

This standard clarifies and regulates the selection of the best control equipment and will necessarily entail an effort. in the renewal of the existing volumetric control meter fleet for the Public Hydraulic Domain in the basin and throughout the state in the medium term.

The large number of recent technical standards and regulations makes compliance with regulations regarding volumetric control of a resource such as the Public Hydraulic Domain complicated for water users and associated professionals. Within this framework, the  Guide for the Installation of Volumetric Control Equipment in the Public Hydraulic Domain

The SICA is made up of automatic, semi-automatic and manual data. Currently, data is received from around 40 irrigation ditch flow meters in real time (automatic), more than 500 remote telemetry stations associated with underground resources, river engines and new water resources with hourly data communication (semi-automatic), and around 1,600 small and medium-sized intakes with manual data that, with the new Order TED/1191/2024, must be adapted to carry out automatic data transmission.

All installed control equipment must be approved (in accordance with metrological regulations) and correctly installed in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. For this, you can consult Section 4 of the Volumetric Control Equipment Installation Guide and Section 5: Technical requirements of equipment for effective flow control in DPH

In summary, the marking of valid meters for DPH it is:

The type of data to be recorded, the frequency of recording and sending it depends on the type of collection and measurement system installed, pressure pipe or free sheet regime, and the corresponding category. This information can be consulted in the tables shown below.

Furthermore, adaptation periods are established to supply the additional information required by the new Order TED/1191/2024 and to install the required equipment in the existing water uses or discharges which, in the meantime, must continue to supply the information required in Order ARM/1312/2009, of May 20, or in the additional resolution of the presidency of the river basin authority.

In the Third Category uses (>500,000 m³), the communications of the equipment with SICA will be done by TCP/IP transmission protocol, with data sending at API level, since it is the most appropriate both for the savings compared to the current transmission of voice calls and email, and for the easy implementation of other recorders through the use of this type of data transmission. For this purpose, you can consult the Section 6:  Registration and Transmission of data to the SICA.

The shutdown of 3G networks is planned in the short term and that of 2G networks in the medium term, so existing equipment limited to these frequencies will have to be adapted or replaced.

Provisionally, while another means of communication is enabled, for the use of First and Second Categories, communications to the SICA METER READING may be made through the SICA Mailbox:

Attaching a statement of readings and a photograph of the meter: