Climate adaptation with €1.5 million investment in flood control

The Municipality of Porto and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) took another step together on the journey to climate adaptation and resilience. The protocol signed this Tuesday morning establishes an investment of around €1.5 million in the construction of retention basins at Jardim Paulo Vallada, and the requalification and valorisation of Ribeira da Granja.

The intervention in the garden where the Poço das Patas stream is located aims to transform this public space into an example of integration of sustainable drainage solutions, while at the same time rehabilitating public enjoyment areas.

By making it possible to retain excessive flows during heavy rainfall events, namely creating 'cascades' on Avenida Gustavo Eiffel, the risk of downstream flooding will be reduced.

Investing more than €550,000, the current football pitch will be converted into a retention basin and four more storage areas will be created. In addition, new green areas and leisure facilities will be created to promote biodiversity and the well-being of the local community.

The investment in Ribeira da Granja, totalling almost one million euros, will, in turn, continue the ongoing ducts removal and rehabilitation of the Quinta do Rio, Requesende, Viso and Ramalde do Meio areas to create a public park.

Aiming to extend the park to the Estrada da Circunvalação road, the project includes the rehabilitation of the riverbeds and banks using natural solutions.

This which is, in practice, one of the largest water basins in the municipality will have improved flow conditions (river management), through resource protection, flood control and prevention of environmental risks, as well as by implementing natural engineering techniques for erosion control, stabilisation and consolidation of riverbeds and banks, and control of invasive exotic species.

The intervention will also focus on the requalification of the existing pedestrian and cycling paths at Quinta do Rio and their connections to Rua de Requesende, as well as their extension to Avenida de Congostas.

Both undertakings are expected to take 240 days. The works on Jardim Paulo Vallada will start in September and the works on Ribeira da Granja will start in the first quarter of 2025.

This investment is part of an overall Environmental Fund and REACT-EU amount of €14.5 million, for the requalification of more than 300 km of rivers and tributaries.

Present at the signing of the protocol, the Minister for the Environment and Energy congratulated 'the city of Porto for showing us the way forward at such an early stage'. 'This is an important environmental intervention, also given the need to reinforce the safety of our population', Maria da Graça Carvalho stated.

The Minister considers that 'more than isolated projects', the interventions carried out by the Municipality of Porto 'show a combined vision' which encompasses the recovery of water lines and soils or the creation of green areas.

'It's about seeing the city as a whole, a city that values the environment and thus gives people quality of life and the conditions for greater economic development', the government official emphasises.

Maria da Graça Carvalho recalls the European Union's approval of the Nature Restoration Law, which calls for the restoration of 20% of terrestrial, marine, coastal and freshwater areas, as well as the requalification of agricultural, forestry and urban ecosystems, and considers that 'the intervention we are inaugurating today responds to more than one challenge associated with these goals'.

The Mayor of Porto believes this type of protocol 'is essential for municipalities'. 'Without State support, local authorities will hardly have the financial strength to develop large-scale and far-reaching environmental policies', Rui Moreira emphasised.

Considering the importance of 'effective cooperation' between State and municipalities, as well as a 'virtuous transfer of competences and resources', the Mayor states that the protocol signed with the APA 'corresponds to this desire for municipalities' cooperation and empowerment, to achieving the country's climate targets and sustainability objectives at local level'.

Rui Moreira recalled the 'continuous commitment to sustainability and decarbonisation of the Municipality of Porto', whose Climate Change Adaptation Strategy resulted in the Plan for the Valorisation and Rehabilitation of the Water Lines of the Municipality of Porto (PVRLA).

Presented in 2022, the PVRLA 'is a fundamental tool in the strategy to minimise the vulnerability of the city's rivers and streams and its territory to climate change effects', the Mayor says.

Developed jointly with Águas e Energia do Porto, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and APA, the plan's objectives were the development of a framework, characterisation and diagnosis of the rivers and streams, a dangers and risks analysis considering different climate scenarios, the identification and prioritisation of measures and investments, such as these interventions in Jardim Paulo Vallada and Ribeira da Granja, and the definition of a monitoring and maintenance plan.

At the initial presentation of the projects, the Deputy Mayor pointed out that the two interventions correspond to 'something that the population has been wishing for a long time'. 'In the past, spaces were seen only as green areas to be enjoyed outdoors, and nowadays they fulfil many other functions', Filipe Araújo says, highlighting the 'resilience and adaptation journey' that the Municipality of Porto has been taking.