The former El Cañizar lake (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
: ''Laguna del Cañizar'') was an extensive freshwater wetland located at the bottom of the
Jiloca tectonic trench next to the town of
Villarquemado, Spain. Its waters covered part of the municipalities of
Cella
In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...
,
Santa Eulalia del Campo
Santa Eulalia del Campo is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 1,171 inhabitants.
This town is located near Sierra Palomera, a mountain rang ...
and Villarquemado, all of them belonging to the
Comarca de la Comunidad de Teruel,
Province of Teruel
Teruel ( Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel.
It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Z ...
,
Autonomous Community of Aragón. Before being drained at the beginning of the 18th century, its waters covered 1130 ha with a maximum depth of 2.8 meters and a stored water volume of 18.7 hm
3.
Between 1729 and 1732 the definitive drainage works of the wetland were carried out. These actions, directed by the Italian military engineer
Domingo Ferrari, meant the total disappearance of the lagoon. As time passed, the main drainage, known as ''Acequia Madre'', came to be considered as just another stretch of the
Jiloca river
The Jiloca () is a river in Aragón, Spain, a tributary of the river Jalón, and part of the watershed of the Ebro basin. The course of the river runs through the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza. It has a length of and an average flow rate of ...
and the existence of the Cañizar was forgotten. By the end of the 20th century, almost all of its riverbed had been ploughed up for agricultural use.
Since the beginning of this century, a project for the recovery of this wetland has been underway. Currently, 380 ha of floodable areas have already been recovered, making the new Cañizar the largest freshwater lagoon in inland Spain. In 2010, more than 200 species of aquatic birds were recorded, some of them in serious danger of extinction, such as the
bittern
Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' and various iterations of ''rared ...
(''
botaurus stellaris
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (''B. s. stellaris'') breeding in parts of Europe and ...
'') or the
squacco heron
The squacco heron (''Ardeola ralloides'') is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East.
Behaviour
The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering ...
(''ardeola ralloides'').
History
Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río
Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río (June 4, 1742 – May 21, 1814) was a Spanish diplomat, naturalist, lawyer and historian. He sometimes used the pseudonym of Melchor de Azagra.
Biography
Of noble birth, he received an excellent educati ...
mentions it in his book "''Historia de la Economía Política de Aragón''" (1798):
The land is at stretches flabby, and spongy; and in some parts so deep, that not finding descent the waters, they are detained forming ponds, or very extensive lagoons, as seen in the Ermajal de Villarquemado with serious damage to the health of its neighbors. The natives could take advantage of the peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
, or vegetal earth, and fuel, that is with abundance in these places. That of Caudete
Caudete () is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Albacete, Castilla–La Mancha. It has a population of 10.163 (From INE 2015). It is part of the Altiplanicie de Almansa ''comarca''.
History
Following its Christian conquest in ...
is the best that I have seen, and the most similar to the peat of Holland, because it boils with the acids, and leaves a white ash.Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río
Ignacio Jordán Claudio de Asso y del Río (June 4, 1742 – May 21, 1814) was a Spanish diplomat, naturalist, lawyer and historian. He sometimes used the pseudonym of Melchor de Azagra.
Biography
Of noble birth, he received an excellent educati ...
:
Historia de la Economía Política de Aragón
' (in Spanish). Editorial MAXTOR, 2010
References
Bibliography
* José Carlos Rubio Dobón. (2004). ''Contexto hidrogeológico e histórico de los humedales del Cañizar'' (in Spanish)''.'' Publicaciones del Consejo de Protección de la Naturaleza en Aragón. Serie investigación, 2004.
* José Carlos Rubio Dobón. (2002). ''Las lagunas perdidas del Alto Jiloca; el mayor humedal de Aragón'' (in Spanish). Editorial Tirwal.
{{coord, 40, 30, 09, N, 1, 17, 13, W, type:waterbody_region:ES, display=title
Aragon
Lakes of Aragon