The delay in clearing work by the council is worrying residents, who fear possible flooding. Many are currently overgrown with vegetation, and full of rubbish. As the days pass and we get ever closer to the possibility of torrential rains, as happened in September 2019 the inaction by Orihuela and many other councils has residents extremely concerned.
Urban and other rural areas urgently need work to remove vegetation and avoid the damage and disasters so recently experienced but during one more summer, the necessary actions have still not been carried out.
“There are sections that must be a priority to clean, such as in Cala Estaca,” according to the Councilor for the Environment of the Orihuela Council, Noelia Grao. Ramblas de Campoamor and Playa Flamenca are both overwhelmed with vegetation. Clearing tasks and specific actions are necessary in 14 municipal ramblas.
Of course, permits must also be obtained from the Generalitat and the river basin authority (CHS) to proceed, because there are complicated channels in terms of competences, where the City Council, the CHS and even the Coastal Authority converge, as occurs in the Rio Nacimiento, in Campoamor.
Similarly, there are places where the river basin authority must carry out action but so far “nothing has been done and there is still a lot of work to be done,” says the Orihuela Council.
Before any cleaning can be carried out, there needs to be an agreement between the City Council and the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS) which has not yet been fully implemented. However, according to municipal sources the City Council of Orihuela would allocate 125,000 euros for cleaning actions in gullies and in the riverbed in the urban section, while the river basin authority would take charge of the undeveloped areas and rural spaces.
The Segura River, as it passes through the Vega Baja, is also a concern as much of it is covered in abundant vegetation and mud that would not help the flow of large channels of water with a large-scale cleaning and waste removal task perceived as a problem.
