Hidroituango crisis: Authorities shut floodgate

Colombian authorities have closed one of two floodgates allowing water to flow into the turbine rooms of the Hidroituango dam, stepping up efforts to save the embattled project.

"The first milestone related to the closure of the turbine rooms has been carried out," Medellín city mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zulaga told reporters. "There are many more [challenges] ahead but we are making progress in our plan to recover the project."

Gutiérrez, who is chairman of the board of project owner Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), said the move would allow engineers to assess damage to the project's key machinery and equipment. The turbine rooms were purposefully flooded last May to prevent the dam from bursting its banks.

Construction work at Hidroituango was halted in April after serious structural damage prompted fears of catastrophic flooding.

Located around 170km northeast of Medellín, Hidroituango is the country's largest infrastructure project in investment terms. The 2.4GW facility is slated to supply over 17% of Colombia's electricity when fully operational.

EPM has said the plant's operational startup will be postponed by at least three years to December 2021 in a best-case scenario.

The project suffered a fresh setback last week when engineers identified a 40m-deep underground void while drilling to check ground stability. The discovery prompted authorities to issue new flood alerts for communities located downstream from the project along the Cauca river.

Gutiérrez said the second floodgate for the turbine rooms would only be shut on the recommendation of experts.

"After 24 hours, technicians will begin a new evaluation to determine a timely, prudent and necessary time for the closure of gate number one," he said.

Meanwhile Colombian environmental licensing authority ANLA said it increased its team of experts attending to the crisis.

"The technical team will verify variables such as stability of the mountain and the dam; climatological, hydrometric and seismological information; water quality; hydrobiological effects... and availability of water for human consumption," ANLA said in a statement.