Urbanización de áreas ribereñas del rio Limay en Neuquén y Plottier

Neuquén and Plottier towns, in the Limay river valley, are continuously growing and expanding without any order, producing multiple and constant problems. The present paper analyzes the occupation of potential flooding areas. Property ventures and settlements have gradually been undertaken without any regularization augmenting related to houses located along the river flood plains. These sectors are exposed to normal or recurrent flooding, following the definitions of the regulatory authority. Increased flows cause land flooding damage and disadvantages to the population and infrastructure involved. The paper presents satellite-based cartography and aerial photographs. The construction of hydroelectric dams changed the natural dynamics upstream the Limay River. These changes made a progressive transformation of the river's dynamics that impacted on land uses. Land use changed from a predominant agricultural use to urban. As a result, land suitability for agriculture has been lost and, neighborhoods have been established in areas at risk from flooding. These settlements have different, characteristics: some of them include vulnerable populations, and other ones set private more luxury neighborhoods. In this way, areas of considerable residential value have arisen, which are perceived differently according them (due to their proximity to the river, the value of the landscape or the housing needs of a particular social group), and resulted in different vulnerability situations associated to the risk to normal and/or extraordinary floods. Las ciudades de Neuquén y Plottier, ubicadas en el Alto Valle de la provincia del Neuquén, manifiestan un continuo crecimiento que se refleja en una expansión desordenada con múltiples y constantes contrariedades. El presente trabajo analiza una de las problemáticas que se da en torno a las urbanizaciones próximas al río Limay, las cuales ocupan áreas potencialmente inundables. En estas zonas, gradualmente se ha procedido a realizar emprendimientos inmobiliarios y asentamientos no regularizados con el riesgo que implica establecer viviendas a la vera de los ríos. Se trata de sectores que se encuentran dentro de la línea de ribera, sobre la planicie de inundación y por tanto están expuestos a las crecidas normales o con recurrencias de 10 años, según definiciones del ente regulador. El aumento de los caudales provoca el anegamiento de tierras, daños e inconvenientes para la población y la infraestructura involucrada. Con ayuda