Azores Governmt inaugurates interventions in the Dilúvio and Prainha streams on Pico island

April 6, 2023

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel and the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, Berta Cabral, inaugurated today the Construction of a Ditch to Collect and Divert Small Streams Flows in the Stretch between Ribeira do Dilúvio and Ribeira da Prainha, and the Stream Bed Re-profiling and Resizing of Hydraulic Crossings in Ribeira da Prainha, in São Caetano on Pico island.

Alonso Miguel said that this is “an intervention that aimed to implement effective solutions to reduce hydrological risks, particularly flooding, which are affecting the Region in an increasingly intense and frequent manner, as a result of climate change, thus increasing the protection capacity of the population, in this particular case, the urban areas of São Mateus, São Caetano and São João parishes, located downstream of the intervened watercourses, as well as the existing agricultural land and farms therein”.

Berta Cabral underlined, in turn, that “people's safety is always the priority, and it is achieved by anticipation and prevention, especially knowing the current reality, with the unpredictable effects of climate change and the greater frequency of extreme phenomena, which should concern us”.

Alonso Miguel stressed that this intervention “consisted in the construction of a reinforced concrete drainage channel, to collect and divert discharges from two existing small streams in the section between the Dilúvio and Prainha streams, with a length of about 280 metres, four metres wide and a minimum depth of one metre, and a retention basin for solid discharges downstream of the channel, to control the dynamics of the flow of the water lines, controlling the processes of erosion, transport and deposition of solid material”.

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change said that “the rehabilitation and improvement of a section of Ribeira da Prainha were also carried out, from the discharge of flows captured in the channel built, over a length of about 1100 metres, which crosses São Caetano, with Stream Bed Re-profiling and Resizing of Hydraulic Crossings, including the upgrading of five new hydraulic crossings”.

The governor also stressed that “this work represents an investment by the Regional Government of about €1,200,000.00, with an execution period of one year, and is a very relevant intervention to minimise hydrological risks, namely of overflow and flooding, thus improving the conditions for safeguarding the population and protecting property”.

Berta Cabral added that the roads that are benefited from these interventions have the potential to produce positive effects on tourism since they provide accessibility to tourists and the configuration of new trails and attractions, which is fundamental for the decentralisation of tourist flows.