Morlaix will reopen its river, partly buried, to reduce the risk of flooding and adapt the city to the challenges of global warming.
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“We are lucky to be one of the rare areas in France to have a flood protection solution.“, underlined Jean-Paul Vermot, mayor (PS) and president of Morlaix Agglomération, during‘a press conference. Presented as “scientifically and financially solid”, this “solution“consists of reopening part of the Morlaix river and remodeling the underground galleries in which its tributaries flow, in order to facilitate the flow of water towards the sea.
Built from the end of the 18th century, these underground galleries have winding sections and choke points which slow down the flow of water in the event of floods. “Floods occur when the galleries saturate“, summarized Clément Le Saux, in charge of the flood prevention action program (PAPI). These floods are causing significant damage in the most commercial part of this Breton town of 15,000 inhabitants. Floods have been recorded there since the beginning of the 19th century and there have been eleven floods since 1990.
TO READ. [PHOTOS-VIDEOS] Thunderstorms: the town center of Morlaix under water
The planned works should make it possible to avoid 80% of the damage caused by thirty-year floods (which have a one in 30 chance of occurring every year) and should reduce the damage by 50% for all types of floods over 50 years.
According to scientific modeling, this erases the floods of 2013-2014 (1.30 m of water in the city center, editor's note). This is an unexpected, exceptional result
Mayor of Morlaix
The flood of June 2018, “Cévennes episode“during which a billion m3 of water fell in one hour, would not, however, be avoided.”But it is the smallest floods which recur most often which will generate the most damage over 50 years.“, underlined Mr. Le Saux.
The provisional cost of the work, which is not expected to begin before 2028, has been estimated at 22 million euros, 50% covered by the State. The option of building two dams upstream of Morlaix, considered “more risky“, was valued at 32 million euros.
The reopening of the river will also have a “major ecological impact“by creating an island of coolness in the city center, where the temperature had risen to more than 40°C in July 2022, underlined Mr. Vermot.
