In 2023, the meando de La Roza has inaugurated a new wetland area integrated in the morphological adaptation carried out through the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project, in addition to the one created in 2020 in La Nava as part of the actions of the Ebro Resilience Strategy.
The Ebro Resilience mission is to promote actions that reduce the impact of floods in the most at-risk sections of the middle reaches of the Ebro River, implementing measures that in turn contribute to improving the condition of water bodies and river habitats. And the generation of wetlands is a type of intervention that responds to this principle.
As it relates to flood protection, wetlands:
- They act as natural sponges that absorb excess rainwater.
- Its vegetation traps and slows runoff, reducing erosion.
- They provide a “buffer zone” that can prevent or reduce flood damage.
If we talk about improving the status of water bodies:
- Wetlands are among the most biologically productive and diverse ecosystems in the world.
- They play an important role in the water cycle
- They contribute to the maintenance of its quality.
- Favor the conservation of the species
- They participate in climate regulation.
- They act as carbon sinks.
In turn, they have a high economic value for the local population (fishing, agriculture, tourism, etc.). Unfortunately, they are among the most vulnerable ecosystems.
La Roza
In the meander of La Roza, in the absence of completing the environmental restoration, the morphological adaptation has been completed, which has allowed the recovery of 22 hectares of river space, also included as a protected area in the Natura 2000 Network “Sotos y Riberas del Ebro” (copses and banks of the Ebro).
Among the interventions carried out, a new wetland area has been created, which communicates with the river’s phreatic, and maintains a constant sheet of water to favor different species.
The action has been carried out by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE), partner of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project, with the collaboration of the Government of La Rioja, also a partner of the LIFE project, and the Alfaro City Council.
La Nava
In the same municipality of Alfaro, in this case through the Ebro Resilience Strategy, the project for the morphological adaptation and environmental restoration of the Ebro River in the La Nava area was carried out.
In the space recovered for the Ebro River, this wetland has been created, which communicates with the river’s phreatic and maintains a constant sheet of water to favor the habitat of the European mink.
As in the previous case, the project was executed in 2021 by the CHE, with the collaboration of the Executive of La Rioja and the Consistory of Alfaro.
We can see, thanks to the following image of this wetland, how the intervention areas are integrated into the landscape and renaturalized over time.
In THIS VIDEO we explain how this wetland of La Nava was created.