With financial support from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the State-Owned Limited Liability Company “Ministry of Agriculture Real Estate” (ZMNĪ) has completed the restoration of 11.3 km of the Meirāni Canal, a state drainage system of national significance located in Ošupe and Barkava Parishes, Madona Municipality.
Construction works began in August 2024, and the project was commissioned on 19 June 2026. The works included clearing overgrown vegetation, cleaning the canal bed, restoring collector outlets and pedestrian cable bridges, constructing a new pedestrian bridge, restoring the canal cross-sections, and reinforcing eroded embankments. An environmentally friendly drainage system element—a two-stage channel cross-section—was also constructed to improve access for maintenance works.
A total of EUR 1.14 million from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Latvian state budget was invested in the restoration of the Meirāni Canal. The project represents a significant investment in flood risk reduction, as the restored canal will improve water drainage during spring snowmelt and summer and autumn floods, ensuring efficient drainage of adjacent agricultural and forest land.
Constructed in 1962, the Meirāni Canal has a total length of 25 km. It collects water from approximately 38,000 hectares of drained land and helps protect around 22,500 hectares from flooding. The restoration of the Meirāni Canal was implemented under the Recovery and Resilience Facility investment “Investments in Flood Risk Reduction Infrastructure.”
The Ministry of Agriculture and the State-Owned Limited Liability Company “Ministry of Agriculture Real Estate” (ZMNĪ) are responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of state drainage systems of national significance and hydraulic structures under their management. These drainage systems and hydraulic structures reduce flood risks by protecting residents, businesses, property, buildings, machinery, agricultural and forest land, roads and other critical infrastructure from flooding. Proper maintenance of drainage systems and hydraulic structures is essential not only for reducing flood risks but also for ensuring the sustainable use of land, preventing land degradation, and improving the productivity of agricultural and forest land.
