SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Jan. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Cabildo de Tenerife, through the Insular Water Council and the La Laguna City Council, have signed an agreement to improve the rainwater collection network from the Las Chumberas urbanization to the head of the El Hierro ravine, for a value of 1,066,000 euros, of which 80% will be contributed by the island institution and the remaining 20% by the municipal corporation.
The insular councilor for Sustainable Development and the Fight Against Climate Change, Javier Rodríguez Medina, explained that this agreement of just over one million euros has been signed to carry out the channeling of rainwater from Las Chumberas to the head of the ravine from El Hierro.
In this way, he indicated, “we put an end to a hydraulic risk that occurred in adverse weather conditions and, on the other hand, we managed to comply with what Europe establishes, which is to separate the wastewater networks from those for rainwater.”
In this regard, the counselor recalled that “it must be taken into account that the treatment plants must be sized to be able to adequately treat those waters that have a polluting load, that is, the residuals, and it does not make sense to send them to the water treatment plants that do not have a contaminant load”.
In his opinion, “rainwater has to go to natural channels, that is, to ravines.”
Rodríguez indicated that the integral water cycle has been the objective of the Cabildo for three years “because the water situation on the island was in a precarious state” and added that “although these works and actions are not shiny, they make up the pieces keys to configuring a sustainable island that does not waste resources”.
For his part, the mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, pointed out that “these works ratify once again that the reconstruction of Las Chumberas is already possible”, and recalled that this joint intervention with the Water Council not only affects the two new buildings under construction but rather “improves the environment and the urbanization as a whole from the adjacent streets to the completion of the channeling, improving water management and thus complying with the regulations to separate wastewater from rainwater”.
RUNOFF AND FLOODS
In Las Chumberas, during rainy episodes, surface runoff and flooding usually occur, which run along the roads until they reach the upper part of the head of the El Hierro ravine, according to a note from the Cabildo.
With the aim of favoring the incorporation of these runoff waters from this urban basin to its course modified by the canalization of the El Hierro ravine, it is necessary to incorporate drainage elements that allow the runoff water to be diverted to its natural course in the surroundings of Volcán Nevado del Ruíz street.
The total length of the main collector is 850 linear meters, along which jump wells are built at an average distance of between 25 and 30 meters, in order to compensate for the longitudinal slope of the road and guarantee the hydraulic efficiency of the pipes to a favorable slope.
To this end, works will be carried out consisting of demolition of pavements, digging in trenches and wells, of variable height, placement of PVC pipes, construction of manholes, filling of trenches and wells and finally replacement of pavements and pavements.
