The Regional Government and Cartagena Town Hall collaborate to implement sustainable drainage actions to combat floods

05/04/2021

Permeable paving, floodable parks and systems to reuse rainwater in coastal areas are all being encouraged

The objective is for the urban ground to act as a large drainage network that allows the water to be absorbed, filtered and stored, and prevents runoff from ending up in the Mar Menor

Murcia's Regional Government and Cartagena Town Hall have agreed to collaborate to implement sustainable drainage actions to help improve the behaviour of urban spaces, in order to combat flooding in the coastal areas of Cartagena that face the Mar Menor.

This was the agreement reached in the meeting held between the regional minister for Development and Infrastructure, José Ramón Díez de Revenga, the Mayor of Cartagena, Ana Belén Castejón, and the Deputy Mayor, Noelia Arroyo, in which they presented the conclusions of the investigative study conducted by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, at the behest of the Regional Ministry, to implement Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).

Díez de Revenga highlighted that it is a matter of "helping to make the urban ground act as a large drainage network that allows the water to be absorbed and filtered, and making the most of those water resources instead of the runoff ending up in the Mar Menor, with all of the materials and objects it picks up along its way".

"This new line of collaboration between the two administrations will help to create 'green spaces' and 'sponge cities', to tackle the environmental impact of cities and, ultimately, improve quality of life for citizens who are periodically affected by floods", the minister added.

This scheme included as part of the Sustainable Construction and Architecture Strategy of the Region of Murcia, which is being rolled out by the regional government in response to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the European Union Urban Agenda 2030. Furthermore, it responds to the priority objective of flood prevention set by the regional executive after the DANA (Isolated Upper Level Depression) storm of 2019.

Díez de Revenga explained that "urban development in cities has contributed to making the ground impermeable, whereas, by itself and naturally, it has a large infiltration capacity for rainwater. This means that when it rains, the water flows like a stream over the surface of the ground, and this causes serious damage in our towns".

Ciudades más permeables

The Regional Government and Cartagena Town Hall will work together on the implementation of SUDS to efficiently manage rainfall and episodes of heavy runoff in urban spaces in Cartagena situated near the Mar Menor.

In order to do this, they will have to use permeable paving, create floodable parks, use drainage networks that separate rainwater and wastewater, and use systems to reuse rainwater.

Based on the study, the technical team at the Town Hall will identify spaces where these sustainable drainage techniques can be applied, in order to plan their implementation.

Statements: Statements by the Regional minister for Development and Infrastructures, José Ramón Díez de Revenga, on the conclusions of the study on the implementation of sustainable urban drainage systems in urban environments in the coastal areas of Cartagena.

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Photograph: Presentation of the conclusions of the study into the implementation of SUDS in urban environments in coastal areas of Cartagena