Andorra River Flows Exceed Decade Average in 2026 After Drought Recovery

River flows in Andorra have returned to normal levels this year, exceeding the average of the past decade due to recent rainfall and snowfall.

The average river flow for 2026 stands above the mean recorded from 2016 to 2025. Winter and early spring precipitation, in the form of rain or snow, has reversed the declines seen during previous drought years. March's average flow topped 5 cubic metres per second—well above the roughly 3 cubic metres per second seen in 2022 and slightly higher than the decade's near-5 cubic metres per second benchmark.

Data from FEDA's Central station highlight the shift: January brought 136.3mm of precipitation, February 98mm, and March 53.8mm. These figures dwarf those from drought-hit 2023, when the same station logged 35.5mm, 42.3mm, and 11.1mm respectively.

This has resulted in positive flow anomalies currently. The government's monthly water resource monitoring bulletin, using data from the Borda de Sabater station, shows January 2026 still negative, but February and March turned positive. Oriol Travesset, a researcher at Andorra Recerca i Innovació (AR+I), noted that January's heavy rain took time to reach rivers due to aquifer recharge. "It had been years with negative anomalies," he added. In 2025, only April and September were positive; 2024 had just October; and 2023 saw negatives throughout.

Travesset described the recovery as now solid after the 2022-2024 drought period, aided by substantial snow reserves. At Sorteny station on 31 March, snow depth reached 2.86 metres, above the 2.16-metre median. Snowmelt in coming months could boost flows further, especially in May—the historically peak month with an average above 15 cubic metres per second from 2016-2025.