- The main ingredients of the actions of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project, participation in the whole process of defining solutions to reduce the risk of flooding and the combination of actions after a detailed study of alternatives, is already applied in interventions outside the Resilience territory, in actions of the National Strategy for River Restoration in other parts of the Ebro basin.
The Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, partner of the LIFE EBRO RESILIENCE P1 Project, organized on July 11 the second day of participation around the river restoration project in the river Noguera de Tor in Barruera (Lleida), a return session to answer the doubts and contributions that the local population presented in the one held in November 2022 around the proposed intervention to reduce the risk of flooding.
Both days were held at the Town Hall of La Vall de Boí, with the support of the Consistory and with a format that allows a real and direct participation.
On November 24, the attendees learned about the technical alternatives to prevent the river overflow from reaching the urban area and presented their considerations on this proposal. These have been studied and conclusions and new data have been presented to answer the doubts of the local population.
One of the main ones concerned the request for a dredging intervention. In this regard, the technical team presented a study carried out on a hypothetical dredging of 50,000 m3 of dredged land.3This is a higher amount than other dredging previously carried out in the section, which shows how this action would increase water velocity, increase sediment transport and amplify the harmful effects of flooding that would be transferred to the vicinity of the urban area.
After this new session, the participants have increased their support and acceptance of the technical solutions. The next steps are the beginning of the environmental processing of the Project by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation and the contact with the owners to obtain the availability of land for the works by the City Council of La Vall de Boí.
Relationship with Ebro Resilience
The projects defined by the National Strategy for River Restoration in the Ebro basin are modeled on the proposals of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project, both in the commitment to direct social participation and throughout the definition of interventions, and in the definition of combined solutions that affect the causes and not the consequences of floods in a section.
Projected solutions
The current channeling of the Noguera de Tor river, upstream of Barruera, directs the circulating flows towards the town, dragging sediments and causing significant erosion and obstructions. In the event of overflowing in extraordinary flood events, the existing defenses prevent the water from returning to the riverbed, increasing the impact. The situation is further aggravated by the narrowing in the area from the hydroelectric power plant to the access road to the Durro bridge.
To avoid the current problems, the project defines the following interventions:
- Recover the drainage section in the channeled section of the river, which will reduce water velocity during floods and, at the same time, allow for the recovery of riverbank vegetation. For this purpose, the current defense will be moved to an area farther away from the riverbed.
- In order to avoid the effects on the urban area, new defenses will be created and the drainage section of the access bridge to Durro will be increased, which is currently very narrow and diverts water towards the town.
- Reconnect partially lost former branches of the river to redirect floodwaters back to the riverbed, preventing them from flowing into inhabited areas.
- Create a new circuit for bicycles and walkers that will run along the new defense on the right bank of the river and return along the opposite bank crossing the riverbed through a new footbridge.
