To rebuild or not to rebuild – that’s the question!

Following the ‘Building Resilience to Floods and Droughts’ event in Murcia, Natxo Lacomba, President of the Limne Foundation, participated as an expert in a peer review matchmaking session. This was organized by the Interreg Europe for the Communauté Agglomération Pays Saint-Omer - CAPSO, France.

The session was organized as a result of major flooding in the region a year ago, which exceeded all known forecasting models and prevention documents and recent land shaping investments in force. Local stakeholders are now wondering how these heavily urbanised areas (residential and business/industrials districts) should be developed in the very short term – within 2 to 5 years - and in the future – until 2040.

The Limne Foundation explained how the Tous dam failure in 1982, which devastated the Júcar basin, and the 2019 Ontinyent flood highlight the destructive potential of floods in Spain and emphasize the need for effective flood risk management. In the first case, two entire towns had to be relocated, moving all the buildings to high ground. In the second case, the city council bought and demolished an entire neighborhood to give more space to the river and created a floodable riverside promenade.

The Foundation pointed out that flooding parks can be a clever approach to risk mitigation, since they are key to early warning systems, evacuation plans, and flood monitoring. They reduce pressure on the river generated by human modification and often become the backbone of the municipalities in which they are applied.

In the past, urban planning often overlooked flood risks, as these regulations were not as prominent 15-20 years ago. The European directive on flood risks was only established in 2007 and transposed into national law in 2010. Integrating natural risks like floods into territorial planning is crucial for effective land management, and includes urban development, infrastructure, economic activities, and open spaces.

There's a growing need for preventive measures in territorial planning to address extreme weather events that affect infrastructure and communities. This needs a shift towards dynamic management with continuous review, adaptation, and monitoring. Proper governance is also essential through cooperation and coordination between different administrations, public and private entities that operate within the territory.