The objective of the conference organized by the Government of Navarra, through the Environmental Management of Navarra (GAN-NIK), together with the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro, for municipal representatives and farmers from Navarra, is to learn about positive experiences of adaptation to flood risk that have been implemented in similar territories and to analyze their replication in Navarra.
During the day, the flood areas in operation and those planned in the immediate future in the Aragonese section will be visited.
These areas are aimed at adapting agricultural areas to the passage of extraordinary floods and are being implemented within the framework of the Ebro Resilience Strategy and the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project.
The first day was held on Wednesday, October 2, for political leaders and staff of the local entities of Milagro, Cadreita, Castejón, Valtierra, Arguedas, Tudela, Fontellas, Cabanillas, Fustiñana, Ribaforada, Buñuel and Cortes, together with representatives of Navarre’s agricultural associations and those responsible for the General Directorates and Services of Agriculture and Environment of the regional executive.
The tour, with technical explanations by the Ebro Resilience team and presentations by the mayors of the municipalities where the intervention has been carried out, has revealed pilot actions to increase resilience and reduce the impact on intensively cultivated agricultural areas.
The focus has been on flood areas and future lateral flow buffer zones.
The objective: to analyze with stakeholders the possibility of implementing similar actions in the Navarre area within the scope of intervention of the Ebro Resilience Strategy.
- In the farm La Mejana de la Cruz, in Alagón and in the town of Remolinos they have learned about the operation of flood areas and their effects, since both, created after the extraordinary floods of 2018, have been in operation for years.
In addition to the technical explanation they have heard the experience of the mayor of Remolinos, Alfredo Zaldíbar. - On the other hand, in the Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro section, they visited the works for the implementation of the lateral flow buffer zones (LFZ), which are being carried out by the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project to adapt 350 ha of irrigated land to the passage of the extraordinary floods.
During the visit, they received technical explanations and learned about the municipal experience from the Mayoress of Fuentes, María Pilar Palacín.
The lateral flow buffer zones are an innovative proposal that involves compartmentalizing 350 ha of the Ebro huerta into areas that will be pre-flooded in a controlled manner during episodes of extraordinary flooding, generating water cushions that will minimize damage to farms and infrastructure when there is a generalized overflow.
This will ensure that, after an episode of extraordinary flooding, normality is restored as quickly as possible and at the lowest possible cost.
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Farmers’ workshop
On October 16, a field visit will be made to irrigation communities and farmers of the middle stretch of the Ebro in Navarra.
Those interested can register to attend.
Actions in the Navarre section
The municipalities bordering the Ebro in Navarra are integrated in the planning of actions to reduce the negative effects of floods through the Ebro Resilience Strategy.
In addition, the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project has two sections of intervention, the first one between Alfaro, in La Rioja, and Castejón, in Navarra, with a different objective from that of the Aragonese agricultural area.
In this case, the proposal involves the recovery of the fluvial space, through the restoration of a succession of meanders, as a measure to reduce flood damage.