Ceutí City Council hosts the first meeting of the initiative this Wednesday, which will mobilize nine partners to improve urban planning and citizen response capacity to water risk, including the Federation of Municipalities RM
This meeting coincided with the first anniversary of the Valencia disaster caused by a DANA storm.
The municipality of Ceutí will be the epicenter of flood risk management with the launch meeting of the LIFE FloodProof project this Wednesday. The meeting, which marks the official start of the initiative, took place in the Ceutí Library and brought together the nine partners of the consortium, with the Ceutí City Council serving as the coordinating partner.
The day began with a welcome address, presided over by the mayor of Ceutí, Sonia Almela, along with the mayors of Alguazas and Lorquí, the councilor for European projects from Las Torres de Cotillas, and a representative of the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS), which underlines the institutional commitment to the project.
The LIFE FloodProof project arose in response to the high vulnerability to flooding in the Segura River Basin, an area that has recently suffered severe water events, impacting 265.000 people in 28 episodes between 2015 and 2021 alone. The risk is increased by climate change and the high percentage of sealed surfaces in urban areas.
The main objective of LIFE FloodProof is to mitigate flood risk in the four pilot municipalities—Ceutí, Alguazas, Las Torres de Cotillas, and Lorquí—by advancing the implementation and updating of the Segura River Basin Flood Risk Management Plan (PGRI). The methodology focuses on three pillars: promoting knowledge and technological planning, training public administrations, and strengthening cooperation and participation of the local population before and during flood events.
The project partners include, in addition to the municipalities, key entities in the Region: the Segura River Basin Authority (CHS), the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), the Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia (FMRM), LANDLAB Landscape Laboratory SLP and Eurovértice Consultores SL.
The program for the launch meeting covers the review of the work packages, with a central point of the agenda being the "Promotion of the 'Sponge City' concept, with proposals for improvement of urban planning and development presented by each city council.
The 'Sponge City' as a model for the future
The project will promote the concept of a "sponge city" by implementing Nature-Based Solutions in Ceutí, Lorquí, Alguazas, and Las Torres de Cotillas. These pilot projects aim to increase the permeability of urban soil and the city's capacity to manage stormwater naturally.
In addition, they will be developed Local Action Plans to address the risk of flooding in the four municipalities. The project includes the creation of citizen governance and oversight groups, local awareness campaigns, and the implementation of four emergency flood drills (one in each municipality) to train the population in self-protection and evacuation protocols.
The consortium will work on developing model municipal ordinances and best practice guides for flood risk management, ensuring that the results and experience gained are transferred and incorporated into future basin-level planning cycles.
