A few months ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with Ana Juárez.
I met Ana last year at a Young Water Professionals congress, and her experience immediately caught my attention.
She is a civil engineer with a master’s in hydroelectric energy from Norway and is currently finishing her PhD while working as a specialist consultant in flood risk.
I wanted to have this conversation because hydrology is often invisible until a catastrophe strikes.
We only remember the professionals who study water behavior when rivers overflow or infrastructure fails.
However, understanding how the natural water cycle works and how we relate to it is probably one of the most critical pillars for the safety of our cities in the coming decades.
On these rainy days in Spain, with floods forecast and likely to become a trending topic in the coming days, I’m taking the opportunity to continue migrating our TV episodes to this website, starting with this article and video.
Why we need to talk about flood risk
Water often shows its worst side during natural disasters. Recent events like the DANA in Valencia have tragically reminded us that the risk is real and that PLANNING is not an option but a necessity.
The challenge is complex.
We face a combination of factors: climate intensifying and variable rainfall, increasing urbanization that often ignores flood-prone areas, and a lack of sustained investment in protective infrastructure.
My goal with this conversation is to give visibility to those working daily to mitigate these risks and to understand why, despite our technology, avoiding disaster remains so difficult.
Lessons from Norway and the value of research
Ana spent several years in Norway, a country where hydroelectric power accounts for 97% of national production.
Although the geographic and economic conditions are very different from those in Spain, there is a fundamental lesson we can import: the investment in research.
In a sector where calculation methods change every year and the availability of data—such as LIDAR or BIM technology—evolves rapidly, we cannot afford to fall behind.
Why we build where water claims its place
It is the million-dollar question: why are there so many urban developments in flood zones?
The answer is more political and social than technical. Ana mentioned the Biescas Case in 1996 as a turning point where, despite technical studies advising against it, construction was authorized, ending in tragedy.
Risk increases due to two clear factors. First, there are more of us, and we build closer to riverbeds, which leads to soil sealing that transfers the problem downstream.
Second, climate variability makes historical data insufficient. We must start respecting flood zone mapping not as a suggestion, but as an impassable physical border.
Reflections on the Valencia tragedy
Analyzing what happened in Valencia, Ana notes that there was no single cause, but rather a set of factors.
The city itself was saved by a major piece of infrastructure: the Turia diversion.
This proves that engineering works. However, in other areas, the magnitude of the event surpassed any forecast, with rainfall equivalent to return periods of 500 or even 5000 years.
An interesting point is the debate over cleaning riverbeds. Ana defines it as a double-edged sword.
While vegetation reduces hydraulic capacity, it also acts as a brake on water velocity. Over-cleaning can accelerate the flow and simply send the problem faster to the neighbor downstream.
The solution requires a complete basin-wide vision rather than just local actions.
The challenge of renewing talent in the sector
One of the issues that worries me most is the lack of generational relief.
Many professionals with decades of experience will retire soon, and we need new hands.
To attract young people like Ana, the water sector must offer more than just a steady paycheck.
We need work environments that offer purpose, flexibility, and a healthy atmosphere.
The water business is, alongside healthcare, one of the sectors with the most direct impact on society.
Protecting lives and ecosystems is a powerful purpose, but we must be able to communicate it better and modernize our way of working to compete with other tech sectors.
Reflection
Flooding is a natural phenomenon, not something alien or new. The landscape has been shaped over millennia by these events that carry sediment and create plains.
The problem arises when our presence ignores that natural dynamic.
