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The Ebro River, Spain’s most voluminous watercourse, faces challenges due to the expansion of intensive agriculture and population growth along its banks, which have worsened the impacts of its frequent floods. Following the major floods of 2015, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, the Ebro River Basin Authority, and the governments of Aragón, La Rioja, and Navarra agreed to implement a plan aimed at strengthening the system’s resilience.
Thus, the Ebro Resilience strategy was born, introducing an innovative approach that moves away from traditional engineering solutions such as dikes or dredging. Instead of trying to control the river, the goal is to coexist with its floods, respecting its natural dynamics and identity as a living ecosystem. The aim is to enhance the population’s response capacity and achieve a balance between economic activities and river conservation while minimizing flood damage.
The initiatives, developed through intergovernmental collaboration and local participation, include the removal of dikes, habitat restoration, and the creation of buffer zones to make agriculture compatible with floods. Advanced technologies have been used to precisely model projects, with the intention of replicating them in other river basins.
More information at www.ebroresilience.com.
Carlos Arrazola Martínez
President of the Ebro River Basin Authority