The Ebro Resilience Strategy is experiencing significant progress in the start-up of 2025 in various sections with actions by several of its partners to achieve a more resilient middle section of the Ebro, from Logroño to La Zaida (Zaragoza), adapted to the risk of flooding.
This is the case of sections 7 (Alcalá de Ebro-Remolinos-Luceni) and 9 (Torres de Berrellén-Sobradiel), in the province of Zaragoza, executed by the Government of Aragon, through the Aragonese Water Institute. These interventions show an important progress since last November 2024, with the elimination of the first sections of old defenses in Alcalá de Ebro, Torres de Berrellén and Sobradiel, fundamental actions to improve the response capacity to possible floods and to guarantee safety.
The objective is to increase the level of protection of the inhabited areas, since these municipalities are located in an area catalogued as having a high probability of flooding and a significant risk area. The works will reduce the economic, social and personal costs suffered during and after flood episodes.
The interventions have a total budget of 4.6 million euros and the Aragonese government has received funding from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (NextGeneration EU) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Performance section 7
The action designed for the Alcalá de Ebro-Remolinos-Luceni section has an execution budget of 1,845,467 euros. The objective is to increase the level of protection by preventing flooding of urban centers for floods with a return period of 25 years and to reduce the impact on agricultural land.
They are focused on a stretch of about 11 km, in the course of the Ebro between El Camponuevo and Los Morerales, in the municipalities of Luceni, Tauste, Pedrola, Remolinos and Alcalá de Ebro.
It includes the elimination of several existing defenses on the left bank of the municipalities of Remolinos, Alcalá de Ebro and Luceni; the construction of two safety dikes in the municipality of Alcalá de Ebro and a ditch-dike, as a containment in Remolinos. In addition, a road will be adapted as a defense and measures will be taken to restore and improve the riverbank vegetation in order to favor a restoration compatible with the river dynamics.
- Whirlpools: the removal of the vegetation necessary to proceed with the removal of two sections of existing motes has been completed.
- Alcalá de Ebro: the removal of almost all the sections of the dikes in the municipality has been completed and the anchoring of the new western defense has been carried out.
- Luceni: partial removal of vegetation and clearing of the land has been carried out in preparation for the demolition of the so-called zone 3 defense.
Performance section 9
The project designed for the Torres de Berrellén-Sobradiel section has an execution budget of 2,846,273 euros. The objective is to increase the level of protection by preventing flooding of the urban centers of Torres de Berrellén and Sobradiel for floods with a return period of 25 years. In addition, the improvement in the flow of water that would be achieved would prevent flooding in 10-year return period floods of agricultural plots that are now affected.
It will be carried out on 7.5 km of riverbed and consists of the elimination of two sections of motes on the right bank and the burying of the ditch in the Mejana del Tambor for an approximate length of 500 meters.
It also includes the execution of perimeter closures in Torres de Berrellén and Sobradiel and the implementation of measures for the restoration and improvement of riparian vegetation to favor a restoration compatible with river dynamics.
– In Torres de Berrellén, the section of the existing mote next to the river has been removed, and the construction of the new safety dike is well advanced. Intensive work has been carried out on the replacement of all the existing ditch crossings and on the construction of the new defense with borrow materials. In addition, clearing and vegetation removal works have been carried out for the construction of the new scour outlet, which will significantly improve water management in the area.
– In Sobradiel, the removal of the section of the existing mote next to the river is being carried out, and clearing and construction work has begun on the foundations of the safety dike on the west side. These actions are essential to strengthen the infrastructure and protect against possible flooding.
Participation and coordination
Prior to the drafting of the project and its execution, the Government of Aragon held public conferences to share information with the riverside population. The involvement of the territory and information on the projects is one of the maxims of the Ebro Resilience Strategy.
A total of 260 kilometers of river length, divided into sections, are being studied in the scope of intervention. The main priority of these studies is to evaluate the current protection of urban centers for floods with a return period equal to or less than 25 years. In addition to this main objective, potential damage in non-urban areas will be studied for floods with a 10-year return period, as well as other additional objectives specific to each section (essential services, communication routes, environmental values, protected species, etc.).
The Strategy involves the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation and the Autonomous Communities of Aragon, La Rioja and Navarre, working together to implement the selected measures.
