Historical Floods and Territorial Planning: Lessons Learned and Opportunities Lost after the Santa Teresa Flood (1879) in the Segura Basin (Spain)

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Title: Historical Floods and Territorial Planning: Lessons Learned and Opportunities Lost after the Santa Teresa Flood (1879) in the Segura Basin (Spain)
Authors: Oliva Cañizares, Antonio | Olcina, Jorge
Research Group/s: Clima y Ordenación del Territorio | Grupo de Investigación en Historia y Clima
Center, Department or Service: Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Análisis Geográfico Regional y Geografía Física | Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Interuniversitario de Geografía
Keywords: Floods | Historical cartography | Territorial planning | Santa Teresa flood | Segura basin
Issue Date: 25-Dec-2023
Publisher: MDPI
Citation: Oliva A, Olcina J. Historical Floods and Territorial Planning: Lessons Learned and Opportunities Lost after the Santa Teresa Flood (1879) in the Segura Basin (Spain). Land. 2024; 13(1):28. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010028
Abstract: Historical cartography is one of the principal tools used in correct flood adaptation and management based on territorial planning. In fact, Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks includes the analysis and inventory of historical floods in a river basin for assessing the flood hazard and risk existing in a geographical space. This study seeks to analyse the largest flood registered in the Segura basin, occurring on 14–15 October 1879, which attracted enormous interest on a national and international level. The methodology applied is based on the consultation of historical sources and historical cartography, and the elaboration of maps using GIS, enabling comparisons to be made with current flood zones. The results show that the Santa Teresa flood was very similar to the Spanish National Cartographic Systems for Flood Areas (SNCZI) map for a 500-year return period. Furthermore, it allows the identification of the sensitive points along the course of the river or those prone to burst banks or overflowing, which practically coincide with the current maps and modelling conducted by the official bodies. Furthermore, the buildings in the floodable area in the historical cartography have been counted and reconstructed on a GIS map and the SNCZI. Massive anthropic occupation through the construction of settlements and infrastructures (hospitals, schools, centers for the elderly, roads and railways) in the Guadalentín valley and the Segura River increases the risk of flooding in the study area, despite the numerous control and regulation works carried out in the Segura River basin.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/139522
ISSN: 2073-445X
DOI: 10.3390/land13010028
Language: eng
Type: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Rights: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Peer Review: si
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010028
Appears in Collections:INV - HYC - Artículos de Revistas
INV - CyOT - Artículos de Revistas

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