Sponge approaches are gaining momentum in the Júcar River Basin Associated Region, where partners are working with farmers, irrigation communities and local stakeholders to implement and monitor nature-based solutions that improve soil health, water infiltration and landscape resilience.
Recent field visits focused on identifying priority monitoring sites and refining a monitoring strategy to assess how sponge measures enhance the landscape’s ability to absorb, store and slowly release water. Monitoring activities, coordinated with CSIC, the River Basin Authority (CHJ) and AgriSat, will begin this month following expert assessments carried out across the basin.
A key partner is the CRUSPAG irrigation community in Godelleta, which represents around 1,300 users and manages approximately 2,100 hectares of irrigated land. Monitoring plots have been selected in vineyards and orange groves to compare conventional tillage with cover crop practices. The sites include a vineyard affected by soil erosion where cover crops are being introduced for the first time, a conventionally managed vineyard, and an orange grove where cover crops have been established for three years. Even at this early stage, noticeable differences in soil structure can already be observed between the systems.
Another monitoring