The Port Authority commissions IHCantabria to carry out a hydrodynamic study of the navigation channel and the beach system, with the objective of sustainable dredging management.

The president of the Port Authority of Santander (APS), César Díaz, and the vice president of the Foundation Institute of Environmental Hydraulics of Cantabria (IHCantabria), Raúl Medina, have signed this morning at the headquarters of the APS a research contract for the hydrodynamic study of the navigation channel and the Somo-Loredo-El Puntal beach system, which includes a proposal of measures to correct the historical trend of advance of El Puntal and the retreat of the central section of the Somo-Loredo beach.

The objective of this agreement is, according to Diaz, “to define a proposal for the sustainable management of dredging in the navigation channel and the disposal of dredged material”. “It is very important to act from knowledge to prevent the degradation of the beach and associated dune systems,” he added.

On the other hand, the president of the APS has assured that this study, which will update the data of another carried out in the nineties, is “in line” with the marine strategy of the North Atlantic Demarcation, the main planning instrument for the achievement of the good environmental status of the marine environment in the demarcation and the general framework to which sectoral policies and administrative actions in this area must conform.

For the vice president of the IHCantabria Foundation, Raúl Medina, “the stabilization of El Puntal is key because, in addition to being part of a Special Area of Conservation (ZEC), it is the one that provides and allows activities such as tourism and surfing, the one that protects the houses of Somo and the shellfishing areas, and the one that makes possible the existence of the channel that gives access to the port”.

The study, which has an execution cost of 304,600 € and a duration of eighteen months from the date of signature, proposes the Somo-Loredo-El Puntal beach system and its navigation channel as a pilot case with methodological objectives. The purpose is to lay the foundations for a medium-term environmental monitoring program, which will make it possible to check its correct operation and, in the event of deviations from the forecasts made, to propose corrective measures, which can be extrapolated to beach systems and navigation channels managed by other Port Authorities.

The agreement signed this morning also involves the joint contribution of new management approaches that facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those related to the water cycle.