Six decades on, Paysand\u00fa and other cities along the lower reaches of the Uruguay River are facing a similar threat, perhaps worse: increasing<\/a> rainfall, a trend that is projected to intensify<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Argentine province of Entre R\u00edos, the eastern border of which is formed by the Uruguay River, average annual rainfall increased by 20%<\/a> between 1960 and 2010. In Uruguay, average annual rainfall is estimated to have increased by 10-20%<\/a> between 1961 and 2017. The heaviest rainfall over that period was recorded in Uruguay\u2019s south-eastern and south-western regions, the latter of which includes cities bordering the Uruguay River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe climate in Uruguay has become tropicalised at a very fast pace in recent decades,\u201d says Gustavo Olveyra, a coastal adaptation specialist for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the country. \u201cIt is raining more and worse, because there are more days with extreme phenomena; the frequency and intensity of winds have increased; the number of very hot days and the duration of droughts have increased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patricia La Nasa, a specialist in environmental conflicts and risk control in Argentina, agrees: \u201cWe are seeing changes in seasonality and in the amount of average and torrential rainfall per year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n But it is not only the climate that has impacted the river and life around it. Some riverside cities have seen a growth in their urban area of as much as 200%<\/a> in the past 20 years, while forest fires<\/a> and deforestation \u2013 especially to the north in southern Brazil<\/a>, where the Uruguay River begins \u2013 have become part of the landscape. Other factors have taken their toll, too: the expansion of livestock agriculture and forestry industries on both banks, the degradation of wetlands<\/a>, and changes in land use that prevent the absorption of flood water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flow of the Uruguay River has also been permanently complicated by the Salto Grande<\/a> dam, positioned between Argentina and Uruguay. Inaugurated in 1979, it features a reservoir that covers almost 800 km2 (close to double the area of Barbados) with a 2,500m-long concrete and earth wall. \u201cThe Uruguay should be a stable river,\u201d says La Nasa, \u201cbut the dam dramatically changed its downstream dynamics. It changed the flow velocities, the way it sedimented and the degradation processes of the coastal edges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In September, torrential rains<\/a> in southern Brazil overwhelmed the Salto Grande dam, forcing the release of more water than usual onto the downstream Uruguay River for several months. This was compounded by above-average local rainfall. As a result, all cities on both sides of the river endured varying degrees of floodin<\/a>g from mid-October until early January: Concordia, Concepci\u00f3n del Uruguay, Col\u00f3n and Gualeguaych\u00fa in Argentina; Bella Uni\u00f3n, Salto, Paysand\u00fa, San Javier, Nuevo Berl\u00edn and Fray Bentos in Uruguay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 3,000 people<\/a> were forced to leave their homes in Paysand\u00fa, as well as approximately 500 families in Concordia. Authorities in both cities have made efforts to relocate people living in flood-prone areas to safer neighbourhoods in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This measure of displacing inhabitants of low-lying land or inland watersheds \u2013 who are generally also of limited economic means \u2013 has been pursued by the most affected municipalities, but has been controversial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alejandra Puglia, a teacher and member of the environmental organisation Amigos de los Humedales (Friends of the Wetlands) in Fray Bentos, told Di\u00e1logo Chino that many families do not want to be displaced: \u201cThey have a strong sense of belonging, and lack alternatives or opportunities to change their way of life if they are relocated elsewhere in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, this accumulation of issues prompted a push for the UN Climate Change Adaptation Fund to finance a project in the lower section of the river, downstream of the Salto Grande dam. The result is the four-year R\u00edo Uruguay Climate Action Plan, being implemented<\/a> by the UNDP between 2021 and 2025. The project<\/a> is using a US$14 million budget to fund works and activities equally distributed across 12 towns and cities on both banks of the river, representing approximately 650,000 people in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest flooding reinforced the notion that such adaptation is essential. \u201cThis time wasn\u2019t the worst \u2013 the biggest problem was that it lasted too long,\u201d says Natalia Garc\u00eda, the R\u00edo Uruguay Climate Action Plan\u2019s coordinator on the Uruguayan side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first and most advanced step of this project is training citizens and government officials on the effects of climate change, so that this perspective can be incorporated into urban planning codes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople need to know what to do when early warning systems tell them that a storm with high winds is coming,\u201d says the UNDP\u2019s Olveyra, who is serving as an adaptation specialist for the project. \u201cDo we shelter them in safe places away from windows, or send them home with the risk that the storm will find them waiting for the bus?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The creation of \u201cflood parks\u201d or riverside promenades is common among almost all participating cities. \u201cThese are areas that have generally been freed up after the relocation of residents,\u201d explains Garc\u00eda. \u201cThe aim of the parks is to prevent them from being reoccupied by informal settlements, which reduces risks, and at the same time to revalue the ecosystem services provided by nature in the floodplain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To date, only La Esmeralda park in Fray Bentos has been inaugurated<\/a>. The rest are still in the pre-approval stage or under construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Fray Bentos and Nuevo Berl\u00edn, both located in Uruguay\u2019s R\u00edo Negro department, the recovery of native flora in parks and streets has become a focus area. Di\u00e1logo Chino spoke to R\u00edo Negro\u2019s environment, hygiene and bromatology director, Adri\u00e1n Stagi: \u201cWe have designed a park along the Los Laureles stream that we will reforest with native tree and flower species. And we want to do the same for the urban trees in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work to reduce or halt the serious consequences of riverbank erosion is another focus of the adaptation plan. It is one of the main consequences of the dam\u2019s daily water management. \u201cWhen Buenos Aires turns on the lights, Salto Grande needs to produce more energy and opens the floodgates,\u201d says La Nasa, who is overseeing the Argentine elements of the project\u2019s social and environmental safeguards. \u201cThis causes pronounced changes in the river level in a matter of hours and accelerates the erosion of banks, beaches and shorelines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Concordia<\/a>, Argentina, the erosion of riverbanks is causing debris to gather at abstraction sites used by the city\u2019s water treatment plant, posing a threat to quality and safety of drinking water. To combat this, one of Argentina\u2019s largest riverbank defence initiatives has been proposed to consolidate the eroding areas. Similar work is being planned further upstream, in Argentina\u2019s El Palmar National Park, and along a road towards Rinc\u00f3n de Franqu\u00eda, a protected area in the north-west corner of Uruguay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The R\u00edo Uruguay Climate Action Plan is scheduled for completion in 2025. Some of those in charge admit this time frame is not substantial enough to solve all the river\u2019s existing problems. \u201cThe virtue is to focus on these issues and to raise awareness among the population and the authorities,\u201d says La Nasa. \u201cAfter that, each aspect will have to be managed constantly and intensively for a long time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness among the municipalities along the river seems to have improved, with adaptation ideas driven by the project starting to emerge. For example, Concordia is soon to inaugurate a water purification plant, Fray Bentos is working on a composting plant, and R\u00edo Negro on an effluent treatment plant. Meanwhile, Uruguay is looking to upgrade<\/a> its early warning capabilities from a regional patchwork to a national, multi-threat warning system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For now, those living along the river wait to see if forecasts<\/a> predicting further above-average rainfall fuelled by the El Ni\u00f1o climate phenomenon<\/a> come to pass. All the while, the Uruguay River continues its journey. It\u2019s not always a journey of blue skies and bucolic charm that An\u00edbal Sampayo sang of, but with the support of the climate adaptation project, there could be positive change ahead, and benefits for over half a million people living along the river\u2019s banks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Flooding along the countries\u2019 shared Uruguay River has become more frequent and severe. A UN fund is aiming to boost adaptation efforts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50000499,"featured_media":50391942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761],"tags":[17827,543,587],"hashtags":[],"country":[50000020,50002602],"class_list":["post-50391941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate-adaptation","tag-extreme-weather","tag-rivers","country-argentina","country-uruguay"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMass displacement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Overhead](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Inundacion-Salto_Fuente-DINAGUA.jpg\")
<\/div>Adaptation on the Uruguay River<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When Buenos Aires turns on the lights, the Salto Grande dam opens the floodgates to produce more energy, causing pronounced changes in the river level<\/blockquote>Patricia La Nasa, environmental risk control specialist in Argentina<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"concrete](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/esmeralda-parque_Fray-Bentos_Uruguay_Presidencia_fgr_01.jpg\")
<\/div>The next steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n