Barranco de Santos. Reality versus theory

The basin of the Barranco de Santos is one of the largest on the island of Tenerife. The channel has its source at 945 above sea level, in the mount of Las Mercedes and crosses the Vega de La Laguna, descending towards the sea bordering the mountains of Anaga to the southwest and finally flowing into the dock of Los Llanos of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Its route of more than 16 km has sections in which it becomes a real canyon, with cliff walls on its margins up to one hundred meters high. The average rainfall on the island of Tenerife is not very important, in general, a circumstance that causes that water does not normally run through the channel except when torrential episodes occur, which can cause unforeseen water floods giving rise to floods that generate great material and even personal damage. The most recent one date from February 2, 2010, the date on which the roads adjacent to the channel of the ravine in the vicinity of the mouth came to be covered with water. This document is about showing the simulations carried out on a digital model of the ravine at the height of the Serrador bridge. These simulations show the height of the water sheet that is reached in the channel of the ravine for the theoretical flows obtained by different calculation methods according to the measured rainfall. Subsequently, it is intended to compare these theoretical results with the actual height of water reached in the channel, captured by different means.