As specialists maintain, floods have a cause and a consequence. Although the truth is that the construction of subdivisions and the concrete slab in the upper parts of the city are the generators of more and more flood points.
The researcher of the Department of Geography of the CUCSH, Luis Valdivia Ornelas, not only confirms the above. He also considers that the authorities have been negligent in acting to prevent the excessive urban development that causes flooding in the city.
“They have been negligent in addressing the problem and giving it a more comprehensive solution, and they have made the technical error of thinking that by piping the channels they would solve the problem.
INITIALLY, PIPING THE RIVER WATER WAS JUSTIFIED BECAUSE THE WATER THAT CAME FROM THE URBAN AREA TO THE RIVER WAS GOING TO BE CLEANED,
But already in the 50s it was known that it was not the solution and they continued betting on the issue of piping the rivers, and in the 70s a good part of the main river channels of the Metropolitan Area were piped, some even disappeared like El Chicalote.
SO, THERE IS NO COLLECTOR THAT CAN CONDUCT THIS WATER WHERE THE RIVER CHANGES DISAPPEARED.”
The figures provided by the specialists of the University of Guadalajara contrast with those presented by the Metropolitan Planning Institute (Imeplan) and its Single Flood Map (MUI), because for the latter:
There are 360 recurrent flood sites, of which 172 are in Zapopan; 73 in Guadalajara; 42 in Tlajomulco; 33 in Tlaquepaque; 15 in Tonalá; 9 in El Salto; 8 in Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos; 4 in Juanacatlán and 4 in Zapotlanejo, finding 15 new points in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area by 2023.
Of these 15, three have high priority attention; three, medium priority, and two, low priority. And they are located in:
Los Molinos Subdivision (Zapopan)
Calzada Independencia and San Benedicto Volcano, Huentitán El Bajo (Guadalajara)
Calzada del Vergel and Curtidores, Jardines del Vergel (Zapopan)
Laureles Avenue and Hidalgo Avenue (tunnel), Downtown Zapopan
Jerez Street and Évora, Santa Elena Alcalde (Guadalajara)
Periférico Manuel Gómez Morín and Celerino Navarro, Rancho Nuevo (Guadalajara)
Monte Jura and Rogelio Bacón (Independencia) Guadalajara.
David Hinojosa and Laura Apodaca, Aldama Tetlán (Guadalajara)
Juan Álvarez and Privada Esmeralda, El Retiro (Guadalajara)
López Mateos and Nicolás Copérnico, Las Águilas (Zapopan)
Marcelino Champagnat and Charal, Rinconada La Calma (Zapopan)
Río Apozolco and Privada de las Colinas 2, Loma Bonita Ejidal (Tlaquepaque)
Valle de la Misericordia and San José, Valle de la Misericordia (Tlaquepaque)
Colina Real Subdivision (Tlajomulco)
La Cofradía Subdivision (Tlajomulco)
The new flood points in the city confirm what I have mentioned in this work: urban growth and the omissions of municipal and state authorities to prevent them have been insufficient.
And although today we only talk about the new areas that flood, those that are already recurrent and that put the city in trouble when it rains no longer have investments; that is, everyone knows that they flood and that’s it.
Both authorities and citizens have normalized spaces such as the Millennium Arches, Plaza Patria and Plaza del Sol.
Any self-respecting Tapatío knows that, in Plaza del Sol, in every rainy season and after a storm, it ends up flooded. That is why it has been nicknamed “flood of the sun” and “beach of the Sun”, but what is it that happens?
WHY EVERY TIME IT RAINS AT THIS POINT DOES THE WATER END UP BECAUSE IT AFFECTS MOTORISTS AND PEDESTRIANS EQUALLY.
Luis Valdivia Ornelas, researcher of the geography department of CUCSH:
“Precisely, Plaza de Sol is located in a micro-basin that was called ‘El Chicalote’, which was completely urbanized. There was no minimum surface area to leave a recharge or infiltration zone, but rather it was an absolute concrete slab that covered the entire surface.
SO, THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE COLLECTORS MADE BY LÓPEZ MATEOS HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DRIVE OR BIGGER COLLECTORS WOULD BE NEEDED
because there was no minimum area where a recharge policy could be established.”
Thus, the conclusion of the specialists is that the lack of information or knowledge on the hydrological, hydrographic and climatic points of the authorities has caused the problems that the city faces today in each storm.
Tomorrow, in the last installment of this special work, I will tell you what are the pending tasks that the municipal and state administrations leave to mitigate flooding in the city.
Source: udgtv
