Guadalhorce valley town clears streams in bid to prevent flooding

The summer season is coming to an end, although there are still a few weeks to go. But autumn is already looming on the horizon, and with it the fear of storms starts to creep into many people’s minds – storms that last year struck the province of Malaga with force. From the end of September through to March and April, these are months when the sky takes centre stage, and rainfall does too.

Cártama in the Guadalhorce valley, one of the Malaga municipalities hardest hit by last year's storms and 'Danas', is preparing to optimise its resources to the maximum and avoid repeating images as unpleasant as those experienced less than a year ago. The overflowing of rivers and the flooding of neighbourhoods have been combated for months with various actions. The latest is the cleaning and clearing of the crossing of the Torre stream with the Gorrino stream, a key point where overflows can occur.

The aim of this intervention is none other than to "avoid possible flooding with the arrival of torrential rains", explained the mayor of the town, Jorge Gallardo. According to the mayor of this municipality in the Guadalhorce valley, these measures are "preventive" and very "necessary". He also stressed that this type of work should be carried out in summer so that the streams and rivers "are in perfect condition for the rainy season".

This work of cleaning and care of the passage between the two watercourses began a week ago, after the council received the relevant authorisation from the Andalusian regional government. It should be noted that the regional authority is responsible for matters relating to public water resources in all rivers and watercourses located outside urban areas, as is the case here.

The work has received significant support from various sectors of society. The municipal workers were joined by members of the Malaga provincial fire brigade. Residents of the municipality have also shown their support; several locals provided machinery to remove the sediment that was obstructing the exit of the large pipes at the base of the passage for motor vehicles that crosses the Torre stream at its junction with the Gorrino stream.

This gesture by both the fire brigade and the group of private individuals who were involved in the work was praised by the mayor. "We must be grateful for the willingness of the people who wanted to join in to speed up the removal of sediment, stones, trunks, branches and other plant debris," he said.

This is not the only measure implemented in the locality by both the council and the Junta de Andalucía. For example, a few months ago the town hall launched a plan to clear municipal roads and streams. At present, and after several months of work, it has been confirmed that some 20 kilometres of municipal roads have already been cleared and cleaned up, as well as four other streams within the urban area.

In addition, since the end of May, the Junta de Andalucía regional government has invested almost one million euros in improving the Guadalhorce river, the main source of concern when measuring flooding problems. There, actions have been carried out such as the removal of aggregates and materials accumulated during the torrential floods and the construction of a section of protective breakwater on a local road damaged by the floods.