CONSEQUENCES OF THE DANA: Urban plans are suspended in 18.5% of the territory of the affected municipalities

The Dana on October 29 swept a large part of the province of Valencia: it affected more than 70 municipalities – mainly in the region of L’Horta Sud due to the overflow of the Poyo ravine, although also on the banks of the Magro Rivers and Xúquer– and caused the death of 227 people (three of them remain missing). According to an investigation prepared by Eldiario.es from cadastre data and the National Cartography System of flood areas, the localities of the zero zone of the DANA had their homes built in places where the probability that a flood occurred occurred was exceptional.

The Ministry of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory presented last week the New Dana cartography which allows effectively to address the management of the territory in a post -emergency scenario, with the identification and delimitation of flood risk areas. According to this tool, “urban procedures will be suspended in rural soils and those that are conditioned,” as explained by the Minister Vicente Martínez Mus.

It is an instrument “fundamental for the prevention, planning and response in the management of territory ordering”, since not only analyzes the behavior of water flows during surrounding episodes, but also evaluates the danger and vulnerability of The different affected areas and the heights achieved in the face of the overflow of the channels of the Túria and Magro rivers, as well as the ravines of the poyo, salt and picassent and their tributaries.

In this sense, the conclusions extracted reveal that the flood stain in the Magro River coincides with the provisions of the Territorial Action Plan of the Sectorial nature on the prevention of the risk of flooding in the Valencian Community (Patricova), while in the Poyo Barrancos Poyo , Saleta and Picasent The extension of the flood is greater than in current cartographies. For its part, in the Túria River, the comparison with official cartographies shows significant disparities due to intense rain in specific municipalities.

Classification of the territory

With these results, the Minister explained that, although the Dana cartography is descriptive, “the territory affected by floods in three stripes that will determine the urban treatment of each area has been classified.”

The first of it is the flooding soils in the patricova cartography and in the cartography of the ministry; The second, non -flood floors in both cartographies, but located within the delimitation of the area of ​​zone flooded by the Dana cartography and, thirdly, the soils that are not included in the two previous categories. “With these planned actions, the percentage of land of the total affected municipalities is 18.57 %,” the head of territory stressed.

Martínez Mus also referred to the recent decree law of urgent urban measures to facilitate reconstruction in municipalities damaged by floods. This decree suspends certain urban procedures until the hydraulic works necessary to eliminate the risk of flooding are completed, and with this cartography these areas that will be included in the regulations in force that are being processed as a bill are delimited.

Hydraulic works execution calendar

At this point, the Minister has urged the central government to “act without delay and present a calendar of execution of these hydraulic works, together with the corresponding budget reserve, which condition the reclassification of the land that will remain blocked in those areas of affection of the ravines of the poyo and the salt. From the Generalitat we have fulfilled and we have done our part, ”he said, highlighting that the new cartography“ provides a clear diagnosis of the areas flooded by the flood and those in which there is no influence of hydraulic works pending to execute by the State.

Martínez Mus has ensured the Generalitat’s commitment to guarantee the safety of citizens with the precautionary reserve of the land where structural works must be carried out and with the balance between the restriction of development in soils with a risk of flooding with a detailed analysis of each project and preceptive and binding reports of the competent autonomous body. On the other hand, he has announced the reform of the Patricova, “as a necessary step to adapt to the challenges presented by climate change and recent floods.”