Elche requests hydrographic confederations to provide resources to municipalities for ravine cleaning

Elche's Mayor, Pablo Ruz, has urged hydrographic confederations, particularly the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), to allocate financial resources to municipalities for the cleaning of ravines.

Ruz made these remarks to the media before one of the Circular Conferences of the Chamber Business Club held at the Huerto del Cura. The mayor stated, "we will go to the end," referring to the ongoing ravine cleaning efforts in the city of Elche.

This situation "concerns" the mayor, who has reflected on the CHJ's stance. "If they believe they shouldn't undertake these tasks, they should reimburse the municipalities for the cleaning costs, and we will do it every year, continuously and proactively," admitted the popular mayor.

Ruz explained that Elche has a "complicated" topography with five ravines and flood-prone areas, as well as a ravine-river, the Vinalopó River, which is the "most dangerous" of them all. Amidst the controversy over ravine cleaning sparked by the DANA, Ruz highlighted the council's efforts in their maintenance.

"We have received a letter from residents of the Barranco de Los Arcos complaining that it hasn't been cleaned for 12 years," Ruz noted, adding that it is now cleared and free of weeds. He urges the Confederation, "if they provide us with the resources, we will be happy to clean them; no one knows these geographical features better than the people of Elche and the countryside."

Regarding the warning from hydrographic confederations about fines for administrations that overstep their competences, the mayor of Elche expressed disagreement with this announcement, asserting that the CHJ "is not in a position to threaten with fines after the situation" and indicated that "we will continue with our work, cleaning ravines."

The Public Services Councillor, Claudio Guilabert, along with the Head of Pedanías and Camp d'Elx, Raúl Sempere, reiterated Elche City Council's commitment to the comprehensive cleaning of all ravines within the municipal area despite the lack of authorization from the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), which only authorizes clearing and pruning in the vicinity of the ravine and urban areas.

Guilabert recalled that in October 2022, the previous municipal government agreed in a plenary session to request the CHJ to clean the ravines. Two months later, the City Council received a letter specifying municipal responsibilities, including cleaning drains, informing the public, emergency plans, and carrying out maintenance and conservation tasks, only in urban sections.

The letter states that the "so-called cleaning of channels or removal of existing vegetation is not considered a corrective measure to eliminate the existing flood risk. In this regard, it is not acceptable for this organization, whose functions include attending to the environmental aspects of the actions it promotes or informs, to associate the concept of cleaning a channel with the removal of inherent vegetation."