Green light for urgent flood prevention work to Marbella's Río Verde

The weather phenomena that have occurred during the last year, especially those classified as 'Dana' (cold drop) storms, have caused damage to Marbella's natural environment. Some of the most severe floods have occurred in the Verde river, which has overflowed it banks several times.

For this reason, the town hall is going to start a series of works included in the 'Plan Municipal de Actuaciones de Conservación y Mantenimiento de río Verde', which has just been awarded to the company MTE San Pedro S.L. for 417,983 euros. Work has to start immediately due to the urgency and the need to carry it out before another storm hits the town.

The emergency work should take up to six weeks, covering all tasks: cleaning of the riverbed and banks; removal of all existing waste and any other unsuitable elements; manual work and work with machinery, including classification and stockpiling; elimination of transverse barriers to the watercourse to guarantee a defined riverbed that ensures the stability of the flow. Equally important is the eradication of exotic and invasive species to enable the recovery and maintenance of native vegetation. Finally, it is crucial to reduce the amount of surface reeds in the area.

This work has been classified as urgent, in order to guarantee the proper flow of water along the riverbed and the safety of infrastructure in the face of the risk of new floods.

Current status of the river

At present, the Verde riverbed still has a high presence of various vegetation species, which hinders the flow of water and the safety of the river and its surroundings. The releases made from the La Concepción reservoir have not altered its hydraulic characteristics, so there is no increased drainage capacity.

In addition, as this is an area at significant risk of flooding (ARPSI) and there is important infrastructure (several bridges) and a high population density concentrated in nearby residential areas (with a possible impact on some 1,400 inhabitants), urgent intervention is required in the face of future floods or meteorological events.