A salt marsh dating back to the Roman era is set to be restored to prevent future floods in Jávea’s Arenal district.
The Saladar lagoon was declared brown-site land in 1991, meaning it could be built on, but has never been developed and remains a strip of grassy land near the town’s popular urban beach.
Used as a fishing station over 2,000 years ago, the now-dried up lake could feasibly absorb more than 100,000 cubic metres of water in the event of torrential rain or tidal surges engulfing the streets.
Dr Manuel Gómez Valentín, faculty head at Barcelona polytechnic university, says the surface is ‘like a sponge’ and in an episode of extreme rainfall could soak up around 140,000 cubic metres of water.
The 50,000-square-metre site, if turned back into a lake, would be constructed so that rainwater ran off the streets and into the basin, putting an end to road-blocks caused by sudden downpours.
Full report in Friday’s Costa Blanca News
