the Floods in Buenos Aires Province They’ve put a big part of Buenos Aires’ agricultural heart on the ropes all this year. Strong storms that have developed in recent days have departed Five million hectares The affected will have an impact on production for 2025 as well as for 2026.
the Brutal waterfallWhich began late last summer and intensified in the spring, not only left floods on farms that changed their cultivated views of bodies of water, but also disrupted roads, complicated the transportation of trucks and machinery and even left fields completely isolated.
In this sense, the producers warned that this year Double water than was planned in the region. Rather, this phenomenon occurred after a period of drought that affected a large part of the core area during 2023, which left the field without a crop.
Pablo Genestetsecretary Federation of Rural Associations of Buenos Aires and La Pampa (CARBAP) indicated in an interview with information The flood problem is a combination of things: on the one hand, The large amount of water that fell On the other hand, Lack of business in the Salado River BasinIt is one of the main water canals that cross the entire governorate.
“Two things come together. Lack of maintenance and maintenance and very heavy rainfall Throughout the Salado Basin. Because this first started in a more local place, here in the central area. After that, the rains continued to increase as they began to fall much farther to the north and also to the south of the basin. It rained a lot, which makes… The entire Salado Basin ends up being affected, from top to bottomHe explained.
he Salt river It crosses the entire province of Buenos Aires, crossing More than 50 municipalities It is one of the most complex canals due to its shallow surface and narrowness. Exactly, in the 1990s, work began to expand this canal and thus avoid flooding in these locations that are essential for the production of Buenos Aires, as it covers approximately 17 million hectares, representing 55% of the area of the province.
the Work in the Salado Basin It is a huge project that has been in operation for more than 25 years and covers a total area of 531 kmwhich was Divided into five sections. Essentially, the river is sought to be widened and deepened to increase its capacity, with the aim of avoiding flooding and thus allowing the surrounding areas, which are usually flooded, to be used for production.
The aim of the work is to expand the channel and It is 40 to 60 meters wide, which was originally 200 meters, and four meters deep. Today its average depth is one meter and eighty centimetres.
In this context, the issue has become the center of attention again due to the lack of progress on this project over the past year. It should be noted that these works have been carried out since the beginning of this huge project jointly between the National Government and the Province of Buenos Aires.
The first part of the project was implemented between 1995 and 1996 with the establishment of Channel 15 For an estuary, a stream of water that has practically no slope. It falls one meter every 10 kilometers. This is a problem with surface runoff when there are floods..
Then work on the river did not continue until 2004 in the first phase, and the end of the third phase was not reached until 2017, thus reaching 223 km The work was carried out from the basin, which has an area of 170,000 km2. However, the conflict began with Section 4 stoppedAnd he is More spaciouswith 212.3 kmWhich in turn is divided into different stages.
As the media has learned, this remains to be done 33 km Of business in Section Four, Phase 2 Which includes municipalities Rocky Perez, Wolves and May 25. According to projections presented by the Buenos Aires government, it is estimated that this phase will be completed by May of this year, and this will allow the rest of the initiative to continue. However, Nasion has cut funding for the dredging works at this stage scheduled to be carried out in February this year.
“It is hereby announced that on February 27, 2025, the contractors “CENTRO CONSTRUCCIONES SA and PENTAMAR SA” have been commissioned. “UTE”, “JOSE J. CHEDIACK SALCA”, “ECODYMA EMPRESA CONSTRUCTORA SA”, “DRAGADOS Y OBRAS PORTUARIAS SA and SABAVISA SA” were responsible for the implementation of the corresponding sections. Of the work: “Extension of the capacity of the Salado River – Section IV, Phase 2” for extensions A, B and C to proceed with the deadline for work,” states the document published at the beginning of this year and which this medium was able to Access to it.
From this standpoint, the Buenos Aires Provincial Government confirmed that it is necessary to complete the work in this section to continue the rest of the project Section 5 He is responsible for the management of Axel Kiselov and is funded by European Investment Bank (European Investment Bank).
However, Al-Umma newspaper indicated to this outlet that the work resumed last September after the liaison committee met with officials from the Ministry of Economy and that it had its own funding to finish the dredging of these 33 kilometers. Even the Minister of Security himself Patricia Bullrich, He made this statement last Saturday when he visited the municipalities affected by the floods in the midst of the operation ordered by the executive authority in the region.
The newly elected senator told the media: “The work has already begun. The previous phase was implemented during President Macri’s government, and now the fourth phase began in September, and it has already been implemented for two months.”
At the same time, Bullrich announced the expansion of the scope of assistance to include… $1.9 billion, materials and equipment. There he participated in a meeting with the mayors Maria José Gentile (July 9); Salvador Serinal (Lincoln); Franco Felix (General Viamonti); Sergio Barenghi (active); and Daniel Stadnick (Carlos Casares) accompanied by the head of the Federal Emergency Agency(avi), Santiago HardyMinister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Sergio Erreta.
The latest rains were reportedly “twice as much as expected this time” and exceeded 500 mmThis situation is considered historic, as the last time similar rainfall was recorded was in 1970.
We talked about short-term issues, how to fix roads and medium- and long-term problems. In the long run, it is the great work of the Salado River, which can direct the water“The minister added.
The works in the Salado River Basin are some of the most important projects in the country and also represent a global challenge. For example, for the Panama Canal, 183 million cubic meters of soil were removed over a length of 80 km. For the Suez Canal in Egypt, which was the first excavation work with machines using dredgers, 50 million cubic meters of earth were removed over a distance of 163 km. Upon completion of the Salado works, a total of 219,151,883 cubic meters of soil will be removed in more than 500 km.
It is worth clarifying that the peculiarity of the area affected by the floods is that it is a flat surface. This means that in natural conditions, water is not channeled, and when there is no specific drainage network (rivers and streams), the water remains on the surface for long periods of time.
The district mayor explained that no matter how well the works are carried out, if the rains continue at this level of intensity, flooding and waterlogging will continue. In this context, the National Directorate of Meteorology issued, on Tuesday, A Yellow alert for storms For all Buenos Aires Province. The first rain is expected to fall around midday and spread throughout the afternoon.
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