Saturday 24 November 2012

Waterfalls on the terraces Friday 28th September 2012


There was a break in the clouds and the sun shone on a series of waterfalls across the terraces. The power of the water was extraordinary. It damaged terraces and destroyed  tracks and spread landslides over the roads. In this location we had 220mm of rainfall in 8 hours. Last year we measured 250mm over the whole year.

This water flowed over an area which has been terraced for many years and where running water is not usually seen at all.

The revitalised rambla joined with many others en route to the sea and created a flash flood. A wall of water hit the houses built beside the Rio Antas. It became polluted by sewage and caused an enormous amount of damage and sadly some loss of life too.

Perhaps a tree planting programme would help to retain soil and water in the mountains and slow the progress of flood water, reducing the risk of flash flooding closer to the coast. Usually it is very hard to root new trees in the hard dry ground without irrigation but this year it may just be possible .......

Does anyone know of a source of young native trees?

5 comments:

  1. Many years ago when I first moved to this area I heard of a government run nursery in Cuevas de Almanzora. They were offering saplings at a reduced price to help reforest the area. I'm not sure if they still exist and I only remember roughly where they are, but it might be worth a look. Go into Cuevas and take the road that runs next to the rambla up to the bridge across the dam. I think they're only about 1/2 km from town on the left down a turning that takes you to the old caves. Laura

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    1. Thank you Laura. I'll go to have a look next time I am down on the coast. I will post the details of what I find.

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  2. Seeds are the best source of young native trees. Check out 'masanobu fukuoka seed ball'.

    P.

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  3. Thank you P. I know of the seed balls and your comment has got me thinking. Yes, we will collect some seeds over the next few months and have them ready for next autumn. We have no native trees growing nearby, only a carob tree. A neighbour once commented on the hillside growth of shrubs saying that when he was a boy the ground was bare even of these - "no butano then" he laughed. As our side of the mountain is south facing it is very hard for trees to get established away from the house. On my last attempt at planting trees (tiny one year old ones) only 2 maybe 3 native pine trees survived (one is still making up its mind!) and the half dozen each of holly oak, carob and rosemary died, as we could not get enough water up to them in the summer. A water catchment strategy would help too, now the ground is moist and the JCB has finished the neighbours' remedial earthworks. Thank for your input. Lots to think about!

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  4. Hi P

    You might be interested in the details in the link below

    http://matrizcelular.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/memoria-de-las-primeras-jornadas.html

    Perhaps we could get together to translate it?

    H

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