More than a decade ago, Seville created a system to defend against Guadalquivir waiting for not having to use it. Last night he had to activate it

Anyone who was yesterday at the entrance to the Pava Charco, could see how the city’s firefighters They moved the huge gates of defense that shield the city of Seville of the floods of the Guadalquivir River.

And it is likely not to know, but I was attending a historical moment: it is the first time since it was built that these steel plates (more than four of meters high and five tons of weight) have to close.

Phase 1. Yesterday afternoon, the Hispanic City Council activated the emergency plan in phase 1 and brought together all emergency services (including Local Police, Civil Protection, National Police and 112) to coordinate the necessary measures.

30 people were evicted from a “chabolist settlement” that was in flood zone, control points were installed and It was decided to close The connection that connects La Vega de Triana with the city. That’s where the doors that have just closed are. He has also put the neighbors of Tablada, Valdezorras and El Gordillo on alert.

But hadn’t it stopped raining? Yes, weather forecasts They do not show abundant rains In the area and in fact (although the red alert is maintained) the river flow has already begun to decrease in Córdoba. However, when we talk about Seville, the river is just one of the things to take into account.

The tide. Although it is often difficult to imagine, the truth is that when the Guadalquivir arrives in Alcalá del Río (that is, 15 kilometers before reaching the municipality of the city of Seville) It is already at sea level. That makes that point more or less, the entire riverbed is subjected to the influence of the tides.

And that is what worries the authorities: if the river flood coincides with the pleamar, the chances that the Guadalquivir will overflow begin to be huge.

How historical is this really? Indeed, to say that the doors have closed for the first time is not saying too much: they settled in 2012 and the last time the city was on the edge of the debacle It was in 1996. However, the challenge is more than considerable.

Because, like Díaz del Olmo explained years agoProfessor of Geography of the University of Seville, the reduction of the alluvial plain of the Guadalquivir (which has gone from 4 kilometers to 500 meters) adds risks to the situation. “It is worth that with the swamps that retain the water, so much alluvial plain is needed, but the current one is not much less sufficient,” he said.

And not only for the plain itself, but because “If the river is wide and with meanders, the energy that the water carries is blurred; but if it is narrow and straight, the water acquires a great speed … like the flow of the river rises of the 4,000 cubic meters per second … we have a problem for which they do not serve neither the storm tanks or anything.”

A monster called Guadalquivir. Luckily, we are not yet in that situation. However, this is a warning for navigators: taught by tons of concrete, rivers are sleeping monsters, but monsters after all.

Just yesterday we talked about The great paradox of our time: Have to prepare for long periods of drought while we have to have infrastructure to contain torrential rains. Today we see that it is not something punctual, it is the true “new normality.”

Image | Toni Pomar | ECMWF

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