Environment Department withdraws aid to Ecohidráulica due to lack of documentation

The General Directorate of Natural Environment and Landscape of the Government of La Rioja has declared the withdrawal of the grant award requested by Ecohidráulica Los Saltos del Agua S.L. for actions to permeabilize obstacles for fish fauna in tributaries of the Ebro. The decision is formalized in Resolution 2225/2026, of November 9, published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 219, of November 12, 2026, in its section III of other provisions and acts. The document consists of two pages and bears the official reference BOR-A-20261112-III–4299.

The framework: regulatory bases and call for applications

The grants are governed by Order AGM/15/2025, of February 16, of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural World and Environment, which establishes the regulatory bases for grants destined for the permeabilization of obstacles for fish fauna in tributaries of the Ebro in La Rioja. The call for applications was organized through Resolution 656/2026, of March 31, 2026, published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 65, of April 8, 2026.

According to the statement of facts in the resolution, two applications were submitted within the 2026 call period, both from the same hydroelectric promoter, involving one installation and two diversion weirs in two different rivers. Upon reviewing the documentation, it was found that both contained correctable errors or incomplete information regarding the requirements demanded by the regulatory order, and therefore the corresponding request for correction was published.

Ten business days that were not utilized

The request was published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja number 200, of October 16, 2026, and granted a period of ten business days from its publication to complete the documentation. The affected files are:

• File S-26-PO1, from Ecohidráulica Los Saltos del Agua S.L. (B40279457), utilization of the Oja river.
• File S-26-PO2, from the same company, utilization of the Altuzarra river.

The pending documentation included proof of concession rights through registration in the Water Registry, public deeds, municipal certification or another admissible title with cadastral reference of municipality, polygon and plot; the concession characteristics of the utilization and the installed power; the third-party data sheet; and the technical report with budget, measurements and description of the work units. Once the deadline passed, the management center certifies that no documentation was received.

Scope of the resolution and means of appeal

The resolution is based on Law 38/2003, of November 17, general law on subsidies; Law 8/2025, of December 29, on the General Budgets of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja for 2026; Law 3/2003, of March 3, on the Organization of the regional Public Sector; Decree 14/2006, of February 16, amended by Decree 23/2008, of March 28; Decree 56/2023, of July 14, on the organic structure of the department; and Resolution 34/2023, of July 17, on the delegation of powers.

In its operative part, the director general agrees to consider the sole applicant for this subsidy as having withdrawn due to the failure to submit the required documentation and to notify the agreement to four recipients: the Delegated Comptroller’s Office, the Nature Defense, Hunting and Fishing Service, the Administrative Coordination Service, and the applicant themselves. The text is signed in Logroño on November 9, 2026, by the director general of Natural Environment and Landscape, Ignacio Sáenz de Urturi Sánchez.

The resolution exhausts the administrative route. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the counselor of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural World and Environment within one month from the day following its notification, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Court of Justice of La Rioja within two months.

With the withdrawal, the only two applications for the call are rendered void, meaning that the works planned to facilitate fish passage at the Oja and Altuzarra weirs will not have regional funding in this fiscal year, and the promoter must restart the process from the beginning if they wish to apply for future calls.

Source: Official Gazette of La Rioja, no. 219, November 12, 2026, section III, pp. 19213-19214 (official reference: BOR-A-20261112-III–4299).