Segura (Spanish and Valencian: ; la, Thader; ar, شقورة, Shaqūrah, or ) is a medium-sized

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in southeastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It has its source in the Sierra de Segura.

Course

The 325-km (202 mi) long river begins at Santiago Pontones ( province of Jaén), passes Calasparra, Cieza,

Blanca, Murcia Blanca is a Spanish municipality in the Region of Murcia, located in the "Vega Alta del Segura". It belongs to one of the six municipalities of the Ricote Valley (Valle de Ricote), together with Abarán, Ojós, Ricote, Ulea, Archena and Villanu ...

Beniaján Beniaján is a village located in the Region of Murcia (Spain), beside the mountains that close the Valley of Segura. It has a population of around 11,000, and is not far from the region's capital, Murcia. Beniaján is known for the abundant produ ...

( Region of Murcia), Orihuela, Rojales, and flows into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

near

Guardamar del Segura Guardamar del Segura () or briefly Guardamar is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality of the Alicante (province), province of Alicante located at the mouth of the river Segura in southern Valencia (autonomous community), Spain. It is a Mediterra ...

in the

province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

. Some of its tributaries are the Mundo (which starts near

Riópar Riópar is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 1,498. References See also *Church of Espíritu Santo Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities ...

), the

Alhárabe Alhárabe is a river in Spain. It is a tributary of Segura. See also * List of rivers of Spain This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flo ...

(which starts in Moratalla), the

Mula Mula may refer to: Places * Mula, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Mula, Maldives, an island in the Maldives * Mula, Spain, a town in the autonomous community of Murcia, Spain * Muľa, a village and municipality in southern Slovaki ...

, and the

Guadalentín Guadalentín is a river in Spain. It is a tributary of the Segura Segura (, ; la, Thader; ar, شقورة, Shaqūrah, or ) is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain. It has its source in the Sierra de Segura. Course The river begi ...

. The

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...

is called the ''Vega del Segura'' and is a very productive agricultural region growing a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and flowers. The ''Vegas'' are divided into three areas: ''Alta'', ''Media'', and ''Baja'' (upper, medium, and lower).

Tributaries

The Segura's main tributaries are:

Recovery

By the 1990s, the Segura had become one of the most polluted rivers in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, due to the

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...

industry and urban and agricultural residues originating in the densely populated area in the medium and lower areas of the basin. This fact combined with low or extreme low flows in the same areas –the agricultural use of water and summer drought could reduce the mean discharge to just around 2 to 3 m/s in Murcia city– made it more difficult to dilute pollutants. Public outcry peaked in 2001, with a demonstration gathering 40,000 people. A comprehensive action plan followed, the Segura River Project, developed by the Murcia Government's Regional Water Department, in partnership with the Segura River Authority (CHS) and town councils in the region, to restore the health of the Segura River and to supply reclaimed water to the booming agriculture industry. Between 2001 and 2010, 100 water treatment plants and 350 kilometres of wastewater collection systems were built. In addition, a wastewater reclamation levy was established to finance the operation, maintenance and monitoring of these systems, applying the principle "the polluter pays".2016 European Riverprize finalists
/ref> By 2003, the quality of the Segura's water started improving. Since 2010, pollution has been unnoticeable, leading to the recovery of fauna and flora including increased otter population in parts of the river they had once abandoned. Birds now rest at two recovered wetland areas recognised by the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

, during their migration between Europe and Africa. In addition, around 110 million m of reclaimed water is reused annually for agriculture in the region. With the river coming back to life, by 2013, otters and

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s –both species particularly sensitive to water pollutants– had repopulated large tracts of the river where they had been absent for decades. As of 2015, the Segura River Project is a finalist for the 2016 European Riverprize Awards, organized by the International River Foundation. This recognizes the fact that the Segura went from being one of the most polluted major rivers in Europe to being the Spanish river with the lowest average pollution (considering the average of all tracts of the river) in the span of just one decade.El río Segura, de aquellos lodos estos galardones, El Mundo
/ref>

Average discharge

Floods

The Segura is usually in a state of semi-permanent

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, however, now and then, it does occasionally

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

as the consequence of the torrential rains (

cold drop A cold drop (from the Spanish "gota fría") is a term used in Spain that has commonly come to refer to any high impact rainfall events occurring in the autumn along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. In Europe, cold drops belong to the characterist ...

), which typically take place once every 6–9 years approximately, always in Autumn and Spring. The

river, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Segura, is the wildest European river. In the twentieth century significant flooding occurred in 1946, 1948, 1973, 1982, 1987 and 1989. Since 1990 the lower reaches of the river have been canalized, removing meanders and hence improving the evacuation of flood waters. The new canal was put to the test in September 1997, in October 2000, in December 2016 and September 2019, when heavy rainfall resulted in significant runoff.

Segura floods in Murcia and Orihuela

Flora and fauna

The predominant

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

in the river Segura is the

riverine forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...

, abundant in Murcia, made up of trees and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s such as

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

cumbungi ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

s and reeds near the river. A little further from the riverbed are the wild rose bushes and elm trees. And finally, in the middle strip, there are brambles, white poplars, other poplars and tarays. Regarding its

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, there are

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s, barbel and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

; as for the birds, the

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

s, the owls, the kingfisher, the nightingale, the white-throated dipper and the

wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The forest wagtail belongs to the monotypic genus ''Dendronanthus'' which is closely related to ''Motacilla'' and sometimes included therein. T ...

;

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

s and

galapago Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

References

External links

Segura's river basin body "Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura"

{{Authority control Rivers of Spain Murcia Rivers of Andalusia Floods in Spain Water in Spain Rivers of the Valencian Community