Development Blamed For Floods
November 1st, 2007
Spanish environmental group WWF/Adena claims poor urban planning exacerbated the damage caused by massive rainfall.
This Autumn’s seen some appalling flooding happening in Spain. Rather than being caused by prolonged heavy rain like the floods that occurred in Britain earlier this year, intense downpours were to blame. Now WWF/Adena is claiming that the effects of the rain were made worse by poor town planning in the Alicante region.
During the building boom of the past decade or so, hundreds of thousands of houses have been constructed on land that would once have soaked away some of the excess water. Others have been built in the dry river beds that traditionally carry away the water in the event of a heavy downpour – in short, they’ve been built precisely in the path of floodwater, meaning that those properties get flooded, and with no channel to pass through the water damages other homes and businesses too.
WWF/Adena also claims that the regional government of Valencia is aware of the problems. Some councils, however, are already taking steps to ensure that future heavy rain does not cause as much damage to their localities. According to Spanish-language daily newspaper El Pais, the Mayor of Calpe, Luis Serna, has announced plans to clear the dry river beds and improve water drainage on some streets. Calpe suffered particularly badly from the flooding, with the repairs to its promenade and beach being estimated to cost 6 million Euros alone, so the council is keen to prevent similar damage occurring in future.
On a similar note, The Olive Press has reported that the Guardia Civil has stated that the plastic greenhouses covering miles of land in Almeria and Granada are placing nine municipalities at risk of flooding. Again, man-made structures are preventing rain water from soaking into the land, so the water can only run across the land to the sea.
Story from homesworldwide.co.uk
