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In order to characterize the variability of floods in the city of Santa Lucía, Uruguay, the objective of this study is to analyze at the basin level how factors such as climate variability and changes in land use and cover influence the occurrence of this phenomenon. Specifically, it evaluates the incidence of rainfall variability and productive intensification in relation to changes in riverbed level. Rainfall and channel level stations have been selected to evaluate climatic trends between 1990 and 2021 and the Land Use and Cover Changes (LUCC) have been determined by remote sensing. The results show, for Santa Lucía, a decreasing trend in the number and duration of flood events in autumn and partially in the number of flood events in summer and spring. They also reveal an increase in the duration of warning events in winter. Two patterns can be identified: a) floods conditioned by inflows from the Santa Lucía Chico river and b) floods conditioned by inflows from the headwaters of the Santa Lucía river. An important role is played by the association between the LUCC and the climatic behavior of the spatial distribution of precipitation, but also by the management of the Paso Severino dam. The concomitant events that influence floods show the need to broaden the study variables to include the analysis of flood management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]