“La Albufera saved lives, in Saler there was not a single puddle.” The biologist with years of experience in the Albufera Natural Park, Javier Jiménez Romo, spoke in these terms about the importance of this ecosystem, not only as a green lung and a niche of biodiversity, but also as a buffer in case of heavy episodes it rains.
However, faced with a phenomenon as extreme as that of last October 29, it also becomes the repository of all the waste that the ravine has carried on its destructive path through the Poyo ravine from Chiva to the same lake. A situation which worries experts and ecologists due to the state of deterioration in which it finds itself.
As Jiménez explains, “the first thing is the human drama, that people can recover their lives little by little, but then it will be necessary to do a detailed analysis because the amount of waste that arrived was terrible, a mixture of vegetation . with plastics, hazardous waste and difficult-to-dispose sludge.
The biologist comments that “the waterspout picked up in its path everything that destroyed houses, factories, industrial warehouses and vehicles and all this ended up in the rice fields, in the Albufera or in the sea; If we were already worried about the situation of the lake before DANA, now it’s brutal. »
Concerning the possible contamination of water or sediments, he affirms that we will have time to study the impacts when the human drama is resolved, but that we feel that they are of an alarming magnitude: “The The essential and most worrying thing is plastics. and packaging containing medicines and hazardous waste, due to their dispersion and the complexity of their disposal. “It will be time to plan a complete reset, a specific recovery and action plan for the entire natural park.”
According to Jiménez, “we need the Albufera because it saved lives, just as we need rivers and ravines because everything is part of a system and we are all part of that system” and he adds: “Climate change denial is an aberration and inaction on climate change is a very serious problem. If we recognize this, we must take real adaptation measures. We were told decades ago that such an event could occur, experts have already said that the Mediterranean is in the eye of the hurricane.
Eva Tudela, expert and representative of Acció Ecologista-Agró, the entity that manages the Tancat de la Pipa, and comments on her first impression after visiting the port area of Catarroja: “At the moment the ditches which are very full are pour into the rice. fields and some also in the Albufera. Initially, this would be ideal because if they transport oils or any products, it is better that they stay in the land of rice fields which act as a green filter and that they do not go directly to the country. ‘Albufera. In any case, the ravines release water towards the Albufera, part of which is certainly very contaminated in the affected area of Paiporta, Sedaví and Alfafar. This is why what we find in the northern part of the lake is a sea of reeds mixed with plastic, because organic waste dissolves, but plastic does not.
According to Tudela, the most complicated thing will be to eliminate waste that is not visible at first glance, “like oil stains from a car, or coolant stains, which float around the Albufera, because the quantity is overwhelming, if nothing is done. The Albufera will become a liquid dump for urban waste, particularly plastic and its companions.”
For his part, Ignacio Moncho, technician of the Assut Foundation, describes the situation of the natural park as “catastrophic, a disaster”, despite the fact that there is still no official evaluation and assures that the calculation of the consequences is “complicated”, but nevertheless, ensures that it is recoverable: “It is a reversible system, with a great capacity for resilience, it will take time but it will have to be done. The main problem will be solid waste, plastics, metals and anything else the water has carried, sediment is easier to remove with dredges.
