Flood protection provided for food hub

SAN Isidro now has a storm tank to collect rainwater from La Granadina industrial estate and minimise flooding in this area.

The work was financed with €273,000 from the regional government’s Vega Renhace plan to address flooding problems in the Vega Baja area.

It is one of the projects to be carried out in the municipality with a total of €400,000 from the fund.

The tank was created by lowering the central boulevard between Calles España and Francia along a length of 255 metres and width of 21m, with the deepest part being 2.3m, which is where the floodgate is located.

It can store up to 5,000m3 of rainwater when it is torrential, significantly reducing the chances of the main road through the industrial estate becoming inundated, as happened in the September 2019 disaster.

La Granadina is one of the key logistical centres for food in eastern Spain so this should prevent it from becoming cut off.

The accumulated water will be drained once episodes of torrential rain finish, making efficient use of the existing pumping system which connects to the Azarbe del Convenio irrigation channel so it can be reused for agriculture.

This system also means the current network will not have to work at 100% of its capacity while the tank is empty, thus improving its response capacity in an industrial estate where its flatness is important.

Mayor Manuel Gil said the tank is important because it will solve the problem of these streets flooding in torrential rain.

Plan Vega Renhace director Antonio Alonso noted that this project pertains to the first phase, which comprises high-priority projects totalling €16 million, with a second phase to come, funded with almost €14M more.

San Isidro has also finished installing a network of drains on Calle Juan Carlos I and is waiting for provincial government authorisation to install a water collector on the CV-909.