The cold drop that Valencia suffered Last October 29 had among its worst consequences the overflow of the Barranco del Poyoa torrent with an area of 479 square kilometers that for 30 years has been considered a high-risk flood zone. Last week The Barranco del Poyo recorded up to 2,228.9 cubic meters per second, a flow four times greater than that of the Ebro River..
Aznar’s plan to avoid floods that the PSOE ended up repealing
Aware of the danger of the torrent, In 2001, the Aznar Government created the National Hydrological Plan, which included the construction of a dam in Cheste to prevent floods in up to 16 Valencian municipalities..
Those municipalities were Alaquàs, Aldaia, Catarroja, Cheste, Xirivella, Godelleta, Massanassa, Paiporta, Picanya, Ribarroja, Torrent, Quart de Poblet, Loriguilla, Mislata and Valencia; areas that are mostly among the most affected by the torrential rains of DANA.
That dam would regulate the flows from the upper basin of the Poyo, Saleta and Pozalet ravines, creating a reservoir with a greater capacity.
In July 2004, the creation of said dam was announced. However, according to the Júcar Hydrological Confederation, The Zapatero Government ended up ruling out the construction of the dam in Cheste because it entailed a very large socioeconomic cost.. The project ended up being discarded and with it the construction of numerous infrastructures that had the objective of distributing water in different basins of the country.
The Barranco del Poyo, historically categorized as an area of potential flood risk
The Rambla del Poyo basin It is located between the Turia and Júcar rivers and has its mouth in the Albufera and not in the Mediterranean Sea. being one of the endorheic basins that the Valencian Community has. The maximum flow of the ravine was measured at 1,200 cubic meters, a figure much lower than the 1,800 that were recorded last Tuesday, October 29.
The rambla ended up overflowing reaching a speed known as ‘flash flood’. The immense amount of water ended up devastating the towns of Paiporta, Picanya, Sedaví, Alfafar, Massanassa or Catarroja.