Damage to water intakes, crops and greenhouses was reported yesterday as a result of the storm of rain and wind that has hit the Ñuble region, which has caused a significant increase in the flow of rivers, streams and irrigation canals.
Authorities and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, headed by the national deputy director of Indap, César Rodríguez, visited some sectors of the area, such as the Ñuble River, Puente Ñuble, El Carmen, Quillón, Coelemu and Trehuaco, where they verified the damage and met with irrigation organizations to monitor the behavior of the irrigation infrastructure.
In this regard, they stressed that the damage is less than that recorded last year, when overflows and floods destroyed productive infrastructure.
“It is a region that, thanks to the work already carried out, has been successfully dealing with these two fronts of bad weather,” said Rodríguez. He added that “we have some areas that have been more affected, such as the coastal area and the foothills, especially in areas with greenhouses and some crops with some degree of flooding, but it has been quite well prepared for the magnitude of the storm.”
“We must not forget that the region was also seriously affected by two floods last year – the authority continued – where a series of works had to be carried out, together with the MOP, to reinforce the river defences, because channels overflowed, there was destruction of channels and also very flooded productive sectors. This sector has responded very well, therefore, this means that the works were well carried out.” He also highlighted the work of the municipalities.
In Quillón, the Minister of Women, Antonia Orellana, who is in the area as a liaison with the central level; and the director of Indap Ñuble, Fernanda Azócar, spoke with farmers in the area.
For his part, the regional minister for Agriculture, Antonio Arriagada, reported that preventive work is being done with producers, in order to avoid further losses of infrastructure or crops. He also stressed the importance of coordinated work with the MOP to resolve the problems and monitor the works to contain the flows.
Irrigation infrastructure
According to the National Irrigation Commission (CNR), problems were reported on the southern bank of the Ñuble River due to flooding caused by overflow in the Capilla Cox sector, at the intake of the same canal and the San José Sur canal. Meanwhile, on the northern bank, it was noted that there is a risk of collapse of the intake of the Juan Francisco Rivas canal and the Municipal canal, places that were visited by the zonal coordinator of the CNR, Jorge Muñoz, in the company of regional authorities and a technical team from the Ñuble River Surveillance Board (JVRÑ).
Daniela Durán, administrator and general distributor of the JVRÑ, stated that, “in recent weeks, the DGA station in San Fabián recorded maximum flows of 640 and 540 m3/s, which have strongly influenced the course of the Ñuble River, interrupting some intake closures and channeling works carried out by the MOP.”
The professional clarified that, “in previous winters, a flow like this did not cause great damage, however, today the reality is different, due to the damage caused by the floods of 2023.”
Durán explained that, “at the moment, we have intakes that are very close to being exceeded. For this reason, our canal managers, who have been attentive to requests, have assisted in carrying out reinforcements in some points, to the extent possible. On the other hand, we have fields that were once more intervened by a river arm, flooding everything in its path.”
On the Chillán River, meanwhile, the waters swept away the intakes of the Lautaro I and Boyén I canals, both of which benefited from emergency projects due to last year’s flooding.
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