2026 Reports

Amortiguador Ribereño: A Resilient Hydro-Urban Corridor along the La Silla River in Monterrey, Mexico

Bonilla Jaramillo, Cesar Alejandro; del Cueto Beato, Dino; Navarro Arista, Mariana Lisset; Maldonado Zuñiga, Valentina; Sierra Martínez, Andrés Emiliano

This case study examines the Amortiguador Ribereño, a proposed nature-based climate adaptation strategy that reimagines a section of the La Silla River (LSR) in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA), Mexico, as a resilient hydro-urban corridor. The LSR, often described as the last “living” river in the MMA, plays important hydrological and ecological functions. The city has witnessed a rapid increase in urbanized zones and impermeable surfaces, a loss of areas with potential for groundwater recharge, and an intensification of hydrological climate variability, intensifying the interconnected risks of flooding, drought, and extreme heat. The LSR reflects this wider scenario, presenting risks of flooding during increasingly intense rainy seasons, as well as signs of pollution and ecological degradation resulting from the pressures of urban growth. Historically, responses to these risks have relied primarily on grey infrastructure and the containment of river flows, contributing to ecological degradation and offering limited adaptability to variable conditions. Rather than treating the LSR as a channel to be controlled, the Amortiguador Ribereño proposal introduces a flexible riparian buffer that allows the river to expand and contract while integrating flood mitigation, water retention, ecological restoration, biodiversity connectivity, localized cooling, and improvements in public space. Presented in 2024, the project targets an area where flood exposure and social deprivation converge and proposes a phased implementation beginning with a pilot segment. The analysis situates the intervention within the evolving governance of the LSR, including its 2023 designation as a Natural Protected Area and the development and public consultation of its Management Program in 2025 and 2026. While these developments provide an emerging institutional framework for nature-based river management, implementation remains constrained by competing land-use priorities, regulatory challenges, and the continued dominance of grey infrastructure approaches. By examining the characteristics and potential benefits of the Amortiguador Ribereño, this text demonstrates how hybrid infrastructure can reconfigure urban rivers as socio-ecological systems.

Keywords: nature-based solutions; urban rivers; flood resilience; hybrid infrastructure