The Ebro flood in images: how the recovered river space and the reopening of the river branches respond

The images obtained during the ordinary flooding of the Ebro from February 13 to 21 clearly show how the river recovery actions allow the river to have natural flood zones, reducing the flow speed and minimizing the erosive processes that historically caused damage to banks and infrastructures.

In the Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza) section, the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project has avoided the narrowing of the riverbed in the Aguilar meander and Mejana del Conde. In these two areas, the project has recovered 23 hectares of river space by reclaiming the motes and creating a new wetland, allowing the river to safely occupy its floodplain during flood episodes.

In addition to this intervention, there are other actions in Zone 1, such as the environmental restoration of the meander of La Roza (Alfaro, La Rioja), also an intervention of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project and the recovery of the river space in La Nava (Alfaro) and phase 1 of the restoration of the Ebro in El Ortigoso (Milagro, Navarra), executed by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, partner of the project, through the Ebro Resilience Strategy. All of them restore functionality to the riverbed and allow the river to have natural expansion areas during floods.

In addition, in the lower section of the Gállego river, in the area of Peñaflor (Zaragoza), the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation has recovered several river branches with financing from NextGeneration funds. Although this is an independent action, it responds to the same philosophy of adaptation to flood risk promoted by Ebro Resilience and follows the line of previous works such as the recovery of river branches in the Sotogrande (Zaragoza). recovery of the river branches in the Soto de Alfaroa reference intervention within the strategy.

These actions, developed with the active participation of the sectors involved and local administrations, show how the recovery of river space and the restoration of the river’s natural dynamics are effective tools for reducing risks and increasing the resilience of the territory.

Flows of the photographed episode

During the ordinary flood recorded in February, the middle stretch of the Ebro reached a maximum flow of around 1,700m³/s in Zone 1 (Alfaro-Castejón) on February 15, and then remained above 1,300m³/s until February 19 due to the continued arrival of a second flood wave. In Zone 2 (Osera de Ebro-Fuentes de Ebro), the flood reached values close to 1,500 m³/s, with sustained flows exceeding 1,300m³/s for threedays, generating a prolonged plateau characteristic of these episodes in the middle section. In parallel, in the Gállego river, the peak of the flood was recorded on February 13, with a flow close to 270 m³/s, contributing to the general dynamics of inflows to the Ebro during this period.