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After the Deputy Minister of Civil Defense of Bolivia, Juan Carlos Calvimontes, talk about the possibility of building several containment walls in the rivers, in order to reduce the impact of future floods in the Pando region, questioning the possibility of doing the same in Acre territory emerged.
Acre River recorded the second biggest flood in the capital/Photo: Dhárcules Pinheiro/Sejusp
In order to clarify doubts and the feasibility of a project like this, the ContilNet spoke with professor Alexsande Franco, PhD in geography from the State University of Ponta Grossa, in Paraná, and is a professor at the Federal University of Acre, working in the field of water security research, water resources management and protected areas management.
He explains that surveys like this have already taken place in the state of Acre, however the results show that these works would not be very effective, and that, in his own words, an “astronomical” amount of money would be needed.
He explains that in part of the city, flooding is largely caused by river waters that invade the sewers. The professor also highlights the possibility of carrying out other interventions such as walls, dikes, paddocks, canals and even artificial lakes that could help disperse the large volume of water.
The professor explains that the result would be negligible compared to the money invested/Photo: Provided
“Canals, for example, cannot be done, they would have to be very deep, we need to disperse water to another location and there would be very complicated logistics with little impact,” he said.
“Packets, dikes or building walls, it’s not possible, there’s no way, so large lakes, the structure doesn’t support them either. Our morphological conditions don’t help, our area is very flat, we don’t have high elevations”, he added.
Another aggravating factor is the natural erosion process that occurs due to the characteristics of the rivers in the region, which can create problems for large works, as has been happening in the old market and on the Joaquim Macedo walkway, a place that is closed for revitalization works.
The Ufac professor also explains that the best option would be to remove people from the affected area and take more effective actions to welcome people into shelters.
“The right thing to do is to improve the response to the flooding that we experience. For example, the water rose 10 meters, where will it be hit, how many people will be hit, let’s get these people out faster, more efficiently, put horns to warn people that it’s rising so they can get things out of the house in time , as civil defense does in other states”.
Preparing for floods is the main weapon against them/Photo: Juan Diaz
He also highlights the need for better quality shelters for those who need to be sheltered. It is also important to highlight the need for greater support from the government through support programs for those affected by the floods, such as actions that have already taken place in 2024, with the delivery of household appliances and joint efforts to issue documents for those who lost their documentation due to of the flood.
