"The current state of structures and public facilities clash with the ongoing climate crisis"
In Valencia, Spain, the focus of debate is shifting from questioning the existence of climate change to discussing what actions can be taken to minimize damage and adapt. This shift is particularly important in densely populated regions like Valencia, where the climate crisis poses a significant threat to urban areas and surrounding regions.
Recommended approaches for flood protection involve a combination of technical infrastructure upgrades and nature-based solutions. One key element is the climate-proofing and modernization of critical infrastructure. Iberdrola is investing €50 million, with EIB support, to reconstruct and climate-proof the power distribution grid in Valencia after devastating floods in 2024. This includes rebuilding damaged infrastructure, installing smart transformers, moving power lines underground, and expanding automation to improve resilience against extreme weather events and ensure energy security in the face of climate change.
Another crucial aspect is the implementation of early warning and decision support systems. For instance, the Argos system used in nearby Catalonia integrates real-time meteorological data, emergency calls, and sensor inputs to anticipate and prepare for extreme weather, including flash floods. Such proactive management is vital to reduce impacts before flooding occurs.
Nature-based solutions also play a significant role in flood protection. These include using natural barriers like “nature walls” along riverbanks to absorb excess water and prevent overflow, as well as deploying endemic plants to filter and slow runoff. These strategies complement technical infrastructure by enhancing landscape resilience and reducing flood peaks.
Public awareness and operational safety measures are equally important. Authorities recommend avoiding parking in flood-prone areas, using main roads during storms, and not attempting to cross flooded zones. Public guidance during episodes of intense rainfall reduces risk and enables safer responses to flash flood risks.
Data-driven monitoring and high-resolution rainfall measurements are also key. Dense networks of personal weather stations provide detailed real-time observations to better understand and predict spatially variable torrential rains, which can exceed 300 mm in 24 hours and drive devastating floods. This improves flood forecasting and local preparedness.
Jorge Olcina Cantos, a geography professor at the University of Alicante, emphasizes the need for more room for science and experts, especially in risk management, to minimize the influence of ideology over expertise. However, the implementation of these measures faces political challenges.
In the Valencia region, a combination of new channels, rerouting existing ones, and nature-based solutions like flood-tolerant parks, unpaved areas, and green spaces will be implemented. A new law is needed in Spain to obligate municipalities to adapt their zoning plans to new climatic realities every 15 years, as there is currently no such obligation.
Professor Olcina Cantos, born in 1966, is also part of the UN expert commission for climate change and advisor to the European verification platform EuroClimateCheck. His research focuses on climate development, water management, and risk adaptation.
The lack of collaboration between different levels of government in Spain is symptomatic and hinders effective disaster protection. In Spain, collaboration between state and regional reconstruction commissions is often lacking. This multi-layered strategy addresses immediate flood risks while accommodating climate crisis-driven increases in extreme rainfall, protecting Valencia’s urban and surrounding areas through infrastructure robustness, ecosystem health, early detection, and community readiness.
- Professor Olcina Cantos, a specialist in environmental science, underscores the importance of giving more weight to science and experts in risk management, especially in light of climate change, to limit the impact of ideology on expert knowledge.
- In the strategy to address flood risks in Valencia, a combination of science-based approaches like data-driven monitoring and high-resolution rainfall measurements, nature-based solutions from environmental science, such as using nature walls and deploying endemic plants, and health-and-wellness measures like public awareness campaigns, will be implemented.
