Conservation or destruction?
WORK that purports to be ‘ conservation’ on the River Segura in Orihuela has been criticised as ‘ an appalling attack on the environment’ by local opposition party Cambiemos.
The government’s Segura river and water authority ( CHS) has been clearing all the vegetation from the banks of the river and the Hurchilllo irrigation channel.
A resident sent Cambiemos a video she had made showing some herons trying to defend their nests from an excavator.
“For years, experts in the subject have been saying that removing the canes from channels only aggravates the problems when there are swells in rivers,” explained Cambiemos councillor María Sandoval.
“There is a widespread idea that a ‘ clean’ channel is one
without plants but this is far from the truth. While excavators are digging up the flora and fauna, they are leaving lots of plastics which end up being buried or follow the course of the river.
“Evidence proves that riverbank vegetation not only slows the speed of the water flow, givA ing people who live in floodable areas more time to evacuate, it creates a diverse ecosystem where birds and amphibians can nest, shelter and reproduce.”
Sra Sandoval urged the CHS to reconsider its destruction of vegetation and to instead preserve this important biodiversity for future generations.
Although solutions to river surges are needed, ‘ what they are doing by earthmoving and building up the banks is a temporary patch’, she said, as the sand is freshly laid and needs a long time to settle and harden, so if there is a surge in the coming months it will take it all with it. She also called on Orihuela town hall to look after the river in its municipality by changing its ‘ destructive’ town planning policy.