The director of the European Commission’s European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Agency (CINEA), Paloma Aba Garrote, has visited the project sites of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project to gain firsthand insight into the actions being carried out to reduce flood risk and promote adaptation to this extreme event in the middle reaches of the Ebro River.
In addition to meeting with the technical team, he was also able to connect with stakeholders through his meeting with the Huerta del Ebro Irrigation Community in Fuentes de Ebro and with the mayors of Fuentes de Ebro: María Pilar Palacín, Enrique Gómez of Osera de Ebro, and representatives from the Quinto City Council.
The visit underscores the European Union’s interest in this project, which is 55% funded by the LIFE Program for the 2021–2027 period and is part of the Ebro Resilience Strategy.
The day began by once again demonstrating the effective coordination and collaboration among the partner government agencies, with an analysis of the project’s status alongside the technical team, composed of representatives from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), the Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE), the regional governments of La Rioja and Aragon; Orekan-Gestión Ambiental de Navarra; the Aragonese Water Institute; and the state-owned companies TRAGSA and TRAGSATEC.
The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Ebro River Basin Authority, provided an opportunity to review the progress of the project’s actions and indicators, which are considered a best-practice example of Nature-Based Solutions according to the Spanish catalog of such measures. The meeting also addressed the public engagement and social capacity-building initiatives carried out since 2021, which have fostered the active involvement of the local population and stakeholders in all phases of the project.
Visit to Osera de Ebro and Fuentes de Ebro
In the afternoon, the director, accompanied by the technical team, toured the projects being carried out between Osera de Ebro and Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza), in what is known as Zone 2 of the project. This is one of the most innovative interventions of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project due to its commitment to reconciling flood risk reduction, agricultural activity, and the restoration of natural areas through Lateral Flow Buffer Zones. This measure involves the sequential implementation of temporary floodplains, a solution that could be applied in other Spanish and European river basins facing the same challenges.
In addition to reviewing the projects, one of the highlights of the event was the opportunity to engage with local stakeholders, including a meeting with the Huerta del Ebro Irrigation Community in Fuentes de Ebro and representatives from the municipal governments of Fuentes de Ebro and Quinto.
The implementation of these measures has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of farmers, the Huerta del Ebro Irrigation District in Fuentes de Ebro, the municipalities involved, and other local stakeholders.
A Look at Zone 1
During the technical session, the initiatives carried out between Alfaro (La Rioja) and Castejón (Navarre), where LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 is promoting nature-based solutions for adapting to flood risk.
The projects carried out in La Rioja at Soto de Alfaro and the La Roza meander; those carried out in previous years as part of the Ebro Resilience Strategy; and, finally, the measures planned for the near future at the El Señorío de Castejón meander in Navarre—together constitute what is known as the “Combined Measures Section,” a series of successive interventions that multiply their effects in reducing flood risk.
Among the projects already completed as part of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 program, the morphological adaptation and environmental restoration of the La Roza meander stand out, with the recovery of 22 hectares of riverine habitat, and the restoration of former branches of the Ebro River in Soto de Alfaro, which has reconnected 60 hectares of this meander with the river’s active channel.
European Support and Next Steps
Before the technical workshop, Aba Garrote, accompanied by Piedad Rivas López, project manager for the LIFE Program, was welcomed by institutional representatives from the partner organizations: the president of the Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE), Carlos Arrazola Martínez; the deputy assistant director of Water Protection and Risk Management at MITECO, Mónica Aparicio Martín; the Director General of Environmental Quality, Climate Change, and Water for the Government of La Rioja, María Isabel Vitoria Díez; the Director of the Aragonese Water Institute of the Government of Aragon, Eva Sierra Vinagre; and the CHE’s Water Commissioner, Miriam Pardos Duque.
The visit builds on and expands the European Commission’s monitoring of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project. In 2025, CINEA representative Federico de Filippi participated in coordination meetings and visited the project’s two adaptation zones, expressing his support for its objectives and progress.
LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 is part of the Ebro Resilience Strategy, which promotes the implementation of the measures outlined in the Ebro River Basin Flood Risk Management Plan (PGRIEbro) along a 332-kilometer stretch of the river’s middle course between Logroño and La Zaida.
To build on this work, the strategy’s partners have submitted a new proposal to the LIFE 2027 call for proposals, which is currently under review by the European Commission. This new phase will include new institutional partners and new lines of action outlined in the PGRIEbro.
