February is supposed to be dry season in northern Colombia. Instead, water was crashing into the Urrá reservoir at 2,500 cubic meters per second — twenty times the monthly average and more than any February since records began in 1960. The dam hit 109% capacity, and operators had no choice but to open the spillways and send the excess downriver. This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Colombia affairs and Latin American financial news.
What followed was devastating. Across four Caribbean departments, at least 14 people died, 9,000 homes were destroyed, and 300,000 people were affected.
Córdoba’s governor declared a public calamity and suspended all schools. The FAO had already warned of hunger risk in the region — now 35,000 hectares of farmland lay underwater.
Then the political storm arrived. President Gustavo Petro accused the energy sector of something far worse than mismanagement: a deliberate scheme.
His argument goes like this — companies let reservoirs fill up without using the water to generate cheap electricity, creating an artificial narrative of gas scarcity so they could sign thermoelectric contracts at prices he claims are ten times higher.
He called it an “environmental crime,” demanded the Urrá manager’s resignation and criminal prosecution, and ordered an official investigation.
Flood crisis fuels Colombia energy battle
The energy industry pushed back hard. Natalia Gutiérrez, head of generators’ association Acolgen, pointed to market numbers: spot electricity prices in early 2026 averaged 213 pesos per kilowatt-hour, far below the 308-peso contract average — meaning cheap hydro was being used, not wasted.
Releasing water without generating power, she stressed, costs companies revenue. “There is no economic incentive to discharge water. These are mandatory technical obligations, not discretionary decisions,” she said.
Here is the story behind the story. Petro has spent his entire presidency battling hydroelectric companies over a pricing formula that ties water-based electricity tariffs to gas costs — a structure he says lets dam operators profit as if they were burning expensive fuel.
He plans to replace it by law in 2027, but with elections approaching and his presidency ending, the flooding gives him a powerful parting argument against an industry he considers rigged.
The crisis is not confined to Urrá. Hidroituango, Colombia‘s largest dam on the Cauca River, also began emergency releases after reaching 99.7% capacity.
Multiple reservoirs across Antioquia, Caldas, and Valle del Cauca are approaching critical levels as arctic cold fronts continue pushing unprecedented rain into the tropics.
Whether the dams were mismanaged or simply overwhelmed by climate will likely be settled by investigators, not politicians. But what makes this matter beyond Colombia is the underlying question: in a country that generates 85% of its electricity from water, who controls the reservoirs effectively controls the economy — and in an election year, that question becomes a weapon.
Related coverage: Brazil’s Morning Call | El Niño Stalks Peru’s Breadbasket: 7.3 Million Hectares of F