URA restores a concrete-lined stretch of the River Errekatxulo as it flows through the Belartza neighbourhood in Donostia/San Sebastián
18/12/2023
This work complements the work carried out together with the Donostia/San Sebastián City Council and is part of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project to renaturalise the river course.
URA (Basque Water Agency) has restored a stretch of the Errekatxulo riverbed as it flows through the Belartza neighbourhood in San Sebastián, from the crossing under Calle Belartza to the crossing under Calle Amasorrain. A new naturalised riverbed has been created to replace the reinforced concrete structure which was previously channelling this stretch.
The specific aims were to connect the riverbed with the banks and their habitat, create a rougher riverbed and foster the creation of natural embankments. The 150-metre stretch where the work was carried out was made up of a U-shaped reinforced concrete stepped structure with a 1.30-metre base and 2-metre-high side walls.
The old concrete structure was partially demolished once the new channel was prepared. In the coming weeks, the slopes will be stabilised using bioengineering techniques and the banks will be rewilded by planting alder species that typically grow in the Cantabrian region (alder, ash, hazel, hawthorn, common maple, black willow, wayfaring tree) and herbaceous plants.
The project required five months of work and an investment of €160,000 (VAT included), and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF 2021-2027.
LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 and its contribution to the river course renaturalisation
The work carried out by URA in Belartza complements the work started in early 2023 by the Basque Water Agency together with the Donostia/San Sebastián City Council, as part of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project to renaturalise the river course.
In this first phase, which ended in March, work was carried out on the north valley floor, where the concrete structure was replaced with natural materials so as to restore the ecological potential of the river and allow the dynamics of the environment, vegetation and fauna to gradually create a higher quality river ecosystem than the current one.
The secondphase on the next stretch of the river began in September this year.
