The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project has started the second phase of the works for the adaptation to flood risk of the irrigation infrastructure of the Irrigation Community of the Huerta del Ebro, in Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza).
This will complete the 2.3 kilometers of new pipeline that has been buried and moved away from the riverbed, in order to reduce the effects suffered during flooding episodes in the section.
The intervention, which will last until next spring, has been programmed to avoid interference with the Community’s irrigation campaign.
The first phase was completed in April 2024 and has been tested by users precisely for this year’s campaign. This part focused on 1.3 kilometers, moving the pipeline away from the defense dike and therefore from the riverbed, and also on moving from an open-air installation to an underground concrete infrastructure, thus avoiding the supply cuts that occurred with the breakage of the mote.
Now this intervention is completed with a total of 1,030 meters, with a total budget for both phases of 1,156,749 euros, financed by the Government of Aragon and the LIFE Program. The work is being carried out by the Aragonese government through the public company TRAGSA.
Osera -Fuentes section
Together with this intervention in the Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza) section, zone 2 of the LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 Project, work is already underway to adapt the Osera de Ebro – Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza) section to the risk of flooding in agricultural areas.
The intervention was selected by the LIFE Program as a pilot proposal because it is a novel approach that will serve as a reference for other European basins with similar problems.
The works have started with Phase 1 of the “Improvement of flood resilience in the Ebro River, as it passes through Osera de Ebro and Fuentes de Ebro, in Zaragoza”, with a budget of 3 million euros.
The main action consists of the recovery of the fluvial space to solve the narrowing of the river at two points, the mejana del Conde and the meander of Aguilar.
By eliminating two sections of the existing flood defense levees and rebuilding them further away from the riverbed, the river will be able to flow in this reclaimed area without causing flood damage.
In total, the overall benefit in the section will be the adaptation of 350 hectares of farms and the recovery of 20 hectares as space for the river, reducing the narrowing of the river.
