Alonso Miguel inaugurates the works of Minimization of Hydrological Risks in Grota da Lagoinha

March 29, 2023

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, inaugurated today the works to minimise hydrological risks in Grota da Lagoinha, Terceira island.

Alonso Miguel said that this is “a relatively simple but strategic intervention, since, together with other interventions promoted by the Regional Government and by this Secretariat, such as the requalification of the Ribeira da Vinha Brava, also already concluded, have the objective to implement effective and adequate solutions, from the technical point of view, to minimise the risks of flooding in the city of Angra do Heroísmo”.

The Regional Secretary in charge of Environment and Climate Change clarified that “flood situations in the archipelago are usually caused by flash floods, as a result of very intense rainfall episodes, which are increasingly frequent, due to the effects of climate change, and this is one of the areas of the city of Angra that has been most affected by this type of phenomenon in recent years, causing overflows and floods in the grounds of the São Rafael Health House and the ring road”.

Alonso Miguel explained that “the waters of two sub-basins converge in this area, which is why, with this work, two distinct interventions were carried out”.

“With one of the interventions, the aim was to reduce the flow of solid discharges in the drainage sub-basin that ends at the rainwater collector existing at the rear of the São Rafael Health House, which drains from the pasture land upstream, and in this case, the solution involved the construction of a retention basin for solid discharges and damping of liquid discharges, to allow the flow of discharges through the collector without exhausting its flow capacity”, he explained.

The Regional Secretary added that, in a second intervention, “the intention was to solve the discharges of water in the drainage sub-basin that ends near the house that existed in the Ponta do Muro area, which was acquired and demolished by the Angra do Heroísmo City Hall, and which drains the water from the land to the west of the São Rafael Health House, which, in certain situations, flooded the external ring road of Angra do Heroísmo”.

“In this case, we opted for the construction of an infiltration well with an approximate capacity of 800 m3, which allows for the reception of rainwater, with the conduction of the discharge to this well being carried out, in a first phase, through a channel built with half pipe shackles and, in a second phase, after the retention of solid material in a transition basin, through a reinforced concrete channel to the well,” continued the governor.

Alonso Miguel also mentioned that "the construction work represented an investment of the Regional Government of about 370 thousand euros, with an execution period of 142 days, being an intervention, in fact, very relevant to minimize natural risks, namely overflow and floods, thus improving the safeguard conditions of the population and the protection of property".

The Regional Secretary concluded by thanking the Angra do Heroísmo City Council and the São Rafael Health House for their collaboration in the construction work, namely for making the necessary land available.