The technical team of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project has made a technical visit to the Guadalquivir River Basin District to learn first-hand about various flood risk adaptation and river restoration interventions and to carry out an analysis of intervention typologies, their implementation, effects and public participation proposals.
This activity is part of the Project’s Networking actions, aimed at the exchange of knowledge, replication of good practices and mutual learning between projects and administrations. The meeting is a continuation of the previous visit that several hydrographic confederations -including that of the Guadalquivir- made to the Ebro Resilience project itself.
The invitation came from the Water Commission of the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation, which acted as host through its technical team, including Deputy Commissioner Juan Lluch. They were also received by Emilio Rodríguez, director of the Doñana Technical Office.
The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 technical group is formed by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the Aragonese Water Institute, the Government of La Rioja, Orekan, Environmental Management of Navarra and TRAGSATEC, and they were accompanied by Martín Fernández Díez-Picazo, representative of the National Contact Point of the LIFE Program of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
A tour of benchmark restoration and adaptation projects
During the visit, the team learned about several interventions carried out in the Guadalquivir demarcation, among them:
- Almonte (Huelva) – Doñana Environment
- Old sediment containment dike in the Arroyo del Partido, in El Rocío.
- Recovery of the alluvial fan of the Arroyo del Partido, an example of geomorphological restoration and improvement of hydrological functionality.
- Ecija (Seville) – Río Genil
- FLUBIOGENIL project, focused on the reconnection of the San Francisco meander, an intervention that improves fluvial dynamics and contributes to flood risk reduction.
- Andújar (Jaén) – Guadalquivir River
- Actions to improve the public water domain and recover the river space as it flows through the city, accompanied by a citizen participation process that is especially relevant for the exchange of experiences.
Technical exchange and public participation
The meeting allowed for a direct exchange of proposals, lessons learned and methodologies between both technical teams. In addition to the analysis of the adaptation solutions visited, a specific space was dedicated to share experiences in public participation, comparing:
- the model developed by LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 in the middle stretch of the Ebro,
- and the citizen participation process promoted for the recovery of the DPH in the Guadalquivir River as it passes through Andújar.
This dialogue reinforces the project’s commitment to flood risk governance, transparency and citizen involvement in decision making.
A further step in the LIFE collaboration network
The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project continues to expand its network of collaboration with other LIFE initiatives and water administrations throughout Spain. In recent years, the project has developed exchange actions with:
- LIFE IP Duero,
- LIFE Kantauribai,
- and other European projects focused on climate change adaptation and river restoration.
These actions make it possible to replicate solutions, contrast approaches and strengthen the adaptive capacity of the territories in the face of floods.
LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project
The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project (LIFE20 ENV/ES/00327), approved by the European Commission in the LIFE 2020 call, covers La Rioja, Navarra and Aragón, has a duration of six years and a total budget of 13.3 million euros, 55% co-financed by the European Union.