Amazon promotes three AI projects in Aragon to save water and prevent flooding

Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) announced this Monday in Zaragoza the launch of three water projects through which it is investing 17.2 million euros in Aragon. The aim, as specified from the Aura space on the banks of the Ebro by the global vice president of AWS data centers, Kevin Miller, is to address water scarcity, improve water infrastructure and protect communities by reducing the risk of major floods such as the one that occurred in Zaragoza in the summer of 2023.

These initiatives include a cloud-based AI-powered early warning system to prevent flooding, infrastructure improvements to modernise a crucial water supply in Huesca, and a project to help local farmers implement new technological tools to maximise crop yields while reducing water consumption. 

The multinational giant, as detailed this Monday, is supporting projects of this kind in those communities where it is promoting its data campuses with the commitment to advance towards its “global commitment” to return more water than they use in their data center operations by 2030. It should be remembered that in Aragon they are going to inject more than 17.5 billion euros, being the main promoter of data centers in Aragonese territory.

“Our goal is to continue collaborating and create a more sustainable and resilient Aragon . It is necessary to take care of water resources and its communities because scarcity is a critical problem worldwide. We are committed to doing our part to solve this challenge,” said Kevin Miller. “The new water projects in Aragon are an example of how AWS is not only operating here, but we are also collaborating with municipalities and local organizations to build a better future,” he added.

PREDICTIVE MODELS TO PREVENT FLOODS

The Zaragoza City Council and the American company are now collaborating to launch an innovative project in which institutions such as the DGA and the CHE are also participating. The aim is to implement a management tool that combines information to create predictive models to anticipate possible floods . It is based, in the first instance, on the sensorisation of the 28 ravines located in the municipal area of ​​the city. ” It is our flagship project ,” said the Country Manager in Spain and Portugal of AWS, Suzana Curic. 

The aim is to avoid major natural disasters such as the one that occurred in the summer of 2023. At that time, Zaragoza recorded 125 million euros in material losses and even suffered damage to the high-speed train line between Madrid and Barcelona. The well-known ‘Barranco de la Muerte’, for its part, next to the Z-30, accumulated a dangerous flow of water exceeding two metres in height. ” It was a miracle not to regret anything other than material damage and it made us reflect,” explained the mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca.

To address this issue, AWS is working with the City Council on an innovative flood management project using advanced cloud technologies such as IoT and the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve water infrastructure that will benefit residents across the city. On the one hand, the Aragonese capital will implement an intelligent alert system based on the AWS cloud, which combines real-time data collection with advanced sensor networks, IoT services, and AI-powered analytics that will transform disaster response capacity. 

The platform will constantly monitor weather conditions and water flow, allowing for proactive infrastructure maintenance, predictive flood risk assessment, and automated early warning to coordinate emergency response efforts. ” We have a perfect match with Amazon. We needed the technology and its resources. They are a multiplier element. It will allow us to react and this is a flagship project. It will be exportable to other regions ,” Chueca said, referring to neighboring communities such as Valencia, which suffered a devastating situation last October with the bloody DANA. 

In addition, the City Council will build a physical flood mitigation infrastructure in the ‘Barranco de la Muerte’. The new infrastructure will divert waters into reservoirs, reducing the risks of flash floods downstream. The stored water will then be treated and returned to natural channels. The preliminary project has been drawn up and the aim is to begin work next year and have it ready by 2027. The entire project will cost more than 3 million euros but will be financed by the technology giant.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE PIPING SYSTEM IN HUESCA

The city of Huesca, in collaboration with AWS, is going to restore the water intake from the San Julián de Banzo spring . Due to its age, the breaks in the pipeline and the abundance of sediment in the water, the pipeline has fallen into disuse. The Huesca City Council will replace a section of this pipeline, over a distance of 5.3 kilometres , with modern materials and will implement an efficient route towards the Loporzano reservoir-reservoir. 

This significantly improves the reliability and operational capacity of the system, increasing the robustness of the water infrastructure of Huesca, which currently has the Vadiello and Valdabra-Canal del Cinca networks as supply sources .

“It is a vital project for Huesca and the future of the people of Huesca. We will have better quality water. It will help us to take advantage of all our water resources and will give us the possibility of improving the service in towns around the city and guaranteeing an efficient and resilient supply system ,” said Lorena Orduna, Mayor of Huesca. “Amazon is also a powerhouse for Huesca. Its arrival means development and being sustainable allows us to be an example for other cities . We are a city around a green lung such as the Miguel Servet park,” added Orduna. 

BRINGING TECHNOLOGY TO THE FIELD

Agrow and AWS are working together on the agricultural revolution through the latest technology to maximize crops and minimize water consumption in the Ebro basin, where agriculture uses more than 90% of the total water from the longest river in Spain, which runs for 933 kilometers. It is estimated that 430 farmers in the regions of El Burgo de Ebro and Villanueva de Gállego will benefit from this initiative in which the North American company is investing 1.5 million. 

The Agrow and AWS proposal is aimed at finding a cloud- and AI-based agricultural solution that uses Amazon Web Services technologies to provide farmers with data-driven insights to help them maximize crop yields while reducing their water footprint.

These recommendations, based on weather data, soil typology, and crop type, among other parameters, guide farmers on where, when, and how much to irrigate their crops. The project addresses water scarcity, enables local farmers to modernize their fields, and improves water use efficiency, all through cloud technology. 

According to the CEO of Agrow, Antonella Maggioni, this tool should serve as an ” inspiration ” for public-private collaboration in the agricultural sector. “We can make great progress,” she said. At the same time, the president of the CHE, Carlos Arrazola, has valued that AI must be part of the future of agriculture from now on in order to “continue to be efficient.” 

The director of the Aragonese Water Institute, Luis Estaún, has also estimated that, today, 30% less water is consumed than years ago and twice as much is produced, which is “an overwhelming difference” that is brought about by new technologies. The challenge, however, is to bring access to this technology closer to farmers, so that they understand and use it. 

These three projects are in addition to two others that AWS already has underway around water in the community. The first, a collaboration with FIDO Tech, a cloud-based water leak detection company that has already helped with water losses in Villanueva de Gállego. The second, with Mediodes, is supplying 864 million liters of clean water annually to the community of Pina de Ebro. 

AZCÓN CELEBRATES AMAZON’S INVESTMENT

The president of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, in charge of the closing ceremony, has emphasized that it is a “really important” day to make visible the sustainability of the Amazon data center project in Aragon. In addition to investing 17.5 billion euros (practically half of the capital injection through the technological hub in Aragon) it is done in a sustainable way , according to the leader of the DGA. ” We are moving from promises to actions. The project is not going to consume water, but return it. The impact is positive. It is a pleasure to continue walking this path with Amazon,” said Azcón.

The Aragonese leader also criticised the central government for having paralysed the three hydraulic works necessary to continue being more efficient in terms of water. He referred to the Yesa, Almudévar and Mularroya reservoirs.