ARCHIVED - Camposol rambla diversion, preferred option to be evaluated

  The riverbed diversion that was approved in principle in 2018 and now is back with a request for further reports

The meeting of the authorities required to plan, authorise and fund the re-direction of the Aznares river bed which flooded so dramatically in 2014 have selected one of the previously proposed options put forward to solve the ongoing saga, namely the diversion of the Rambla de los Aznares floodwater channel.

The requisite authorities are the Mazarrón Town Council, the Murcia Regional Government (CARM) and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura – the water infrastructures authority (CHS) a National government department, and these were joined in talks by the Camposol Residents Association at a recent meeting.

Reports arising from the rambla “Round table” meeting held on July 6 indicate that the previously proposed option 3 is to be re-evaluated with technical reports to be carried out for discussion at the next meeting in September, although there may be a change in perspective at the next meeting as since the last meeting in July it has been announced that the Supreme Court (TSJ) ruled that Mazarrón Town Council had been exonerated of blame, overturning a previous judgement made by the National Council of Ministers at the request of the CHS.

The Supreme Court ruling now looks to be apportioning culpability to the CHS after proof was produced that Mazarrón Town Council reported building irregularities on the riverbed to the CHS in 2003 on at least 2 occasions and in 2004 CHS technical staff reported the riverbed channelling was not affected, the Court also ordered the CHS to pay costs.

What is known about the diversion alternatives 1 & 2?

The first two alternatives are very similar in that the routes travel along the length of Calle Piteras, the main throughway running north to south through Sector D of the development. The main difference between the two options is the route before joining Calle Piteras: alternative 1 enters the road infrastructure and travels along Calle Guardix (this was ruled out as Guardix is an internal poligono road and does not come under the Council’s control), while alternative 2 enters the road infrastructure and travels along Calle Nogales, a public road, before joining Piteras and the roundabout junction with Avenida de los Covachos.

Both of these alternatives were proposed in 2015 as part of the Memoria Avance report and follow a course similar to the original route of the Rambla de los Aznares. However, both were shelved as a consequence of cost and the amount of disruption to road infrastructure and services.

What is known about "alternative 3"?

Alternative 3 was commissioned in 2017 and proposed in 2018. This option diverts the course of the water away from the original route and deposits the water in a tributary of the Rambla de las Moreras between Sectors C & D.

The route is far shorter than the first two options – less than half the total length – and has fewer turns. Also, it only encroaches into the road infrastructure and services to around a third of the extent of the other two routes.

The third alternative enters the urbanisation road network and travels along Calle Mosquera before turning into Avenida de los Covachos travelling towards Sector C exiting Avenida de los Covachos adjacent to poligono D20 into the Zona Verde (Green area) and connects with the Rambla de las Moreras tributary, the entirety of this route is on land owned by Mazarrón Council, this option also had a cost advantage of 3.8 million euros, far less than the other options.

Alternative 3 was also accepted in principle by the CHS in February 2018 with a request for additional information and technical reports. For reasons unknown these were not supplied.

What is not known about Alternative 3?

When this option was presented at a public meeting held by the CRA in early 2018 to a packed audience many concerns were raised, including disruption, although this option uses far less road infrastructure it is at a point that would affect far more homeowners during construction.

But the main concern was the depth and amount of excavation to maintain the flow of water through the differing elevations, as the route passes close to many homes apprehension was raised about the effect on buildings and foundations. These concerns may form part of the extra reports requested by the CHS.

To add to the saga days before the 2019 election, the then Mayoress Alicia Jimenez held a public meeting where the Regional Authority’s Director General of Water, Sebastián Delgado, presented an Alternative 4 which passed around the outskirts of the urbanisation outside the road infrastructure, after the election this option was never heard of again, despite repeated attempts to contact Mr Delgado.

The Rambla de Aznares issue has dogged Camposol for nearly 20 years and the problem still persists, not only from potential flooding but also the situation where technically around 600 homes are built on government land, which is causing administration problems in the completion of the Camposol urban plan being included in the General plan of the Mazarrón Municipality. Hopefully a solution will result from the Roundtable talks for the benefit of Camposol and Mazarrón.

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