citizens who work to maintain the environmental integrity of their town and its surroundings. Another major tributary to the Llobregat, the Anoia, is supposed to join the main stem of the river here in Martorell. But Rafa explains that in the 1970s the Anoia became so polluted, that the water treatment plant managed by AGBAR downstream insisted that the Anoia river be put in a tube and diverted until after the water plant extracted its water for the city of Barcelona. I was shocked at the audacity that water managers had to pipe a major tributary of the Llobregat. It also showed an end of pipe approach to water management. Like the desalinization plants being installed today, the diversion of the Anoia river effectively manages the waste but does not address the problem at its source. Following the diversion pipe, the volume of the Anoia decreases significantly. We saw fish kill nearby, baking in the hot sun.Rafa and Roger also showed me la Horta, an agricultural field in the Llobregat and Anoia floodplain that the Catalan Land Instiute (Institut Catala del Sol) and the City Hall of Martorell would like to develop for housing. Many from Martorell are resisting this development, and they correctly point out that the Catalan law does not permit new development in the floodplain. They showed me maps of the floodplain at 10 year, 50 year and 100 year return periods. The maps are a bit suspect because they have straight lines in them and I wonder how these can be accurately drawn without a complete model for the watershed. I raised another eyebrow with Rafa told me that the engineer responsible for the floodplain maps insisted that he was contracted to only calculate flood boundaries for one side of the river. *!?. This conversation sparks my curiousity as to how these lines are made and my intuition tells me that politics and economic interests may be helping draw the boundaries in order to assist urban development.
The Roman Via Agustus, which connected the silver mines of southern Spain to Rome, passes through Martorell and crosses the Llobregat at El pont del diable 'Devil's Bridge'. Orignally built by the Romans, the current structure is medieval. Still, this point has remained a strategic center for both ancient and modern infrastruture. Roads, rails, pipes and other infrastruture enter the Barcelona Metropolitan region through this narrow segment of flat lands between two mountain ranges.
As I entered the final and most urban segment of the Llobregat, I encounter workers building vairous infrastructure projects. First I meet workers who are doubling the capacity of the salt pipe orginally built for the mines in Sallent. The increased capacity will accomodate the salty waste generated by the new desalination plants in Abrera and Sant Joan Despi. I also encounter workers building a walking trial on the left bank. With funds negotiated from the Spanish Government in compensation for the environmental damange caused by the high speeed train (AVE), the Catalan Water Agency and the local city halls are investing in the left bank of the river for recreational use. 
The plan is to connect Martorell with the Delta. I was encouraged to see this work, and suspect that it will be a success, with considerable public use.
I also saw heavy machinery cruising up and down the river near Palleja. Later, an engineer told me that this operation is meant to increase aquifer filtration from the Llobregat. In fact, AGBAR and the Catalan Water Agency have being paying someone to plow the river for over 30 years! They have found that contaminants, which I assume to be some sort of hydrocarbon, coat the bottom the the Llobregat and prevent aquifer filtration. The heavy machinery moves the bottom of the river to allow water to percolate into the aquifer. It seemed like such a rudimentary, if not primitive method for managing an aquifer. It also contradicted what a groundwater specialist at the ACA had told me when she insisted that the surface water of the Llobregat was not connected to the aquifer at the Delta. It still is unclear to me how the surface water and aquifer are connected, and if the contaminants from the Llobregat affect groundwater sources.I also
ran into Manuel Alvarez, an engineer working on restoring meanders in the lower segment of the Llobregat. The funds for this project also come from the compensation from the high speed train project. The goal is to create small islands in the Llobregat, which, I assume, will slow down the river, increase filtration, and create habitat for biodiversity. The project is being executed by well known construction firms. Lluis Gode at the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) had told me about these restoration projects, and I was excited to see its execution on the ground. It will be interesting to follow the progress of this project in the next few years. There also may be opportunities to learn from this project. At first glance, the execution of this restoration project did not adopt an adaptive management approach.The trail was dusty more unpleasant than I expected. I passed heavy industry, including the CELSA plant that melts discarded metals, and is a visual eye-sore in the lower Llobregat Valley. Being surrounded by heavy industry, I was suprised to run into Paco, a sheep herder who has been taking care of his flock in the lower Llobregat for decades. It was a shame that I ran into Paco at the end of the day, because by that time I was too tired to ask too many questions. I hope to run into Paco again someday, because I had the sense that he knowns the lower part of the Llobregat well.
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