The project for the morphological adaptation and environmental restoration of the Ebro river in “El Ortigoso, phase 1”, in Milagro (Navarra), has been completed. With a budget of 1.4 million euros, it has allowed the recovery of river space to reduce flood damage and its environmental recovery.
The “El Ortigoso” site, located upstream of the confluence of the Ebro and Aragón rivers, has always been a conflictive area during flood episodes, given that the morphological configuration of the land made it difficult for both rivers to flow together. In these situations, the Aragón river, which provides more flow, prevailed over the Ebro, retaining the latter and causing overflows towards the banks.
The main objective is to reduce the damage caused by overflows, together with environmental recovery, contributing to the fulfillment of the environmental objectives of the Ebro Hydrological Plan, in accordance with the Water Framework Directive and in coordination with the Habitats Directive and the programs of measures for the areas belonging to the Natura 2000 Network.
This first phase of work has focused on the right bank of the Ebro, while the second phase will correspond to the left bank.
The works consisted of the removal of 1,790 meters of defense, which has been set back, placing it 100 meters farther away from the river.
The new 800-meter-long fender has been built taking into account innovative concepts of landscape and environmental integration. Thanks to the use of soft and revegetated slopes, the transverse “barrier” effect will be avoided, thus facilitating the passage of the fauna present in the area and reducing the impact. In this way, more space has been provided at the point where the two rivers meet.
All this has meant the recovery of 6.4 hectares of river space, previously occupied with productive poplar groves, and the restoration of two lost branches of the river, each over 400 meters long.
Earlier this year, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation (CHE) also began the environmental restoration of the area with more than 12,000 native plants. Vegetation of riparian species typical of this section of the river, such as poplars (Populus alba, Populus nigra), ash trees (Fraxinus angustifolia), willows (Salix alba, Salix purpurea), tamarisk (Tamarix gallica), hawthorns ( Crataegus monogyna) and brambles (Rubus ulmifolius) have been planted.
The works carried out in the “El Ortigoso” site represent the first completed action of the Ebro Resilience Strategy in Navarra.
Second Phase
The project for the morphological adaptation and environmental restoration of the Ebro river in “El Ortigoso, phase 2, in Milagro (Navarra) and Alfaro (La Rioja) is in the drafting process and will soon go out for public information.
This will include the removal of the defenses that run parallel to the riverbed on the left bank and left bank and their recessed construction, allowing an increase in the hydraulic capacity of the riverbed in episodes of flooding and recovering river space for the Ebro riverbed.
In addition, it will propose the development of land at the entrance of the meander in the Alfaro area to allow the horizontal connection of the river, and in the narrowest area of the channel in Milagro to improve drainage. As in Phase 1, the environmental restoration of the area will support the natural regeneration of the undergrowth with a planting design compatible with the transit of the waters of the Ebro River.