Guardamar del Segura, 31 July 2025 — In a decisive move to strengthen flood resilience in the Vega Baja region, the Valencian Government has announced a significant €8.2 million investment to expand the drainage capacity of the Azarbe del Señor canal. This forms part of a wider €14.3 million initiative aimed at preventing the catastrophic flooding witnessed during the severe storms of September 2019.
The project focuses on restoring and enhancing the ancient drainage infrastructure near the mouth of the Segura River. This includes unblocking and enlarging key waterways that serve a dual purpose: providing irrigation and acting as emergency flood channels during periods of heavy rainfall.
Environmental degradation and poor water management infrastructure were brutally exposed during the 2019 floods, which submerged homes, farmland, and critical infrastructure across several municipalities. In response, the Vega Renhace plan was developed to prioritise long-overdue waterway improvements—chief among them, work on the Azarbe del Señor.
The canal, which runs through agricultural zones in Formentera, Rojales, Daya Vieja, San Fulgencio, and Guardamar del Segura, has long suffered from sediment build-up and restricted flow due to inadequate maintenance and outdated pipe structures. This has left many urban and rural areas vulnerable to repeated inundation.
The current project will remove the canal’s enclosed piping and restore it as an open drainage channel, dramatically increasing its capacity to handle stormwater. The goal is to reduce the flooding risk for surrounding homes, fields, and peri-urban developments.
Simultaneously, €6.1 million will go toward dredging the river mouth, where nearly 190,000 cubic meters of sediment will be removed from the old and new channels. Sediment accumulation in this area has been a persistent problem, exacerbated by increasingly frequent and intense rain events. Officials say the clogged channels now pose a serious environmental and public safety threat by limiting the region’s ability to evacuate floodwaters.
While some environmental groups have raised concerns about potential contaminants in the dredged material, the Generalitat has secured all necessary environmental impact approvals. The regional Ministry of the Environment, along with the Directorate of Urban Planning and Environmental Assessment, issued a green light for the project in May.
The public company Tragsa has been commissioned to execute the works, which are expected to take approximately eleven months.
Authorities have categorised the interventions at both the Azarbe del Señor and the Segura River mouth as “high priority” due to their strategic importance in preventing future floods and protecting both human life and ecological systems.
“This is not just a civil engineering project — it’s an environmental necessity and a matter of public safety,” a spokesperson for the regional government said. “Without action, areas of the Vega Baja will continue to suffer every time the skies open.”
