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Date Published: 26/07/2021
ARCHIVED - CHS commits 80 million euros to minimising risk of flooding in the Mar Menor
€80 million will be spent around the Mar Menor by 2027
The president of the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHR), Mario Urrea, has met with the mayors of the Mar Menor municipalities to present the proposed plans for works to prevent the flooding of the municipalities around the Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia during storms.
The plans, which are already on public display, aim to reduce the risk of extreme floods such as storm Dana in 2019, which devastated the Mar Menor and caused extensive flooding in the surrounding municipalities of the Mar Menor.
Prevention, protection, preparation and recovery from flood events are the objectives of the planned works, which in their first phase, between 2023 and 2024, are budgeted at €80 million. The plan will run until 2027.
The first stage will involve three areas of Los Alcázares, the municipality most affected in recent years.
To the north, a natural corridor will be created to direct water captured via the natural network of ramblas safely to the Mar Menor without flooding the town, while in the centre controlled storage areas will be built to retain the water and direct it to the Rambla de El Albujón, via a safe "double moat" protecting the external boundaries of the town.
To the south, the intention is to expand the capacity of the existing Albujón rambla and create a second one capable of evacuating flood water. The first will capture the water from the centre of Los Alcázares (the current Rambla de El Albujón) while the second will create a new route for the water down into the sea, both evacuation routes doubling the existing capacity and taking water away from the town. This phase of the project has actually already begun and should be completed by September or October, months when the Region is at the highest risk of floods.
In addition, work is due to begin in San Pedro del Pinatar, to capture the water from Pilar de la Horadada and evacuate it through the Rambla de Las Higuericas. In San Javier the aim is to improve the storage capacity of the Cobatillas Rambla, through a series of dikes and storage areas and in Torre Pacheco a defence plan for the historic centre has been drawn up. In Cartagena, work is already underway in the former mining areas to ensure that sediments and metals are contained and do not flow down into the Mar Menor.
While Urrea stressed that the plan is to reduce the risk of flooding as the problem can’t be eliminated altogether, he has committed to visiting each of the affected areas in the coming months to present the details of the works planned and answer any questions.
The situation relating to the Mar Menor is complicated: Click here for a detailed overview explaining the complexities of why it is so difficult to find short-term solutions to the current problems facing the lagoon.
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