The Tourist Region of the Algarve (RTA) has proposed to tourist companies rreduce or eliminate ornamental fountainsreduce the irrigation of green areas or renew the water in swimming pools as contingency measures to respond to the drought situation.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of RTA said that the proposals, agreed with the business associations of the sector and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), to a wide range of actions that are already being adopted in tourism and hotels to reduce water consumption.
“We have sent measures that address various areas of activity in the tourism sector, in particular the hotel industry, because the golf courses are already being worked on, field by field, with the Portuguese Environment Agency, the result of work that began in 2020 with the Water Efficiency Plan [do Algarve]”, indicated João Fernandes.
The same source justified the adoption of these measures with the fact that the region is “in a contingency situationin which there is a great hydric stress, caused by a worrying and prolonged situation of drought”, but has underlined that “there were and never were measures to cut consumption for human supply in the equation“.
“It is very important to say this, because neither tourists nor residents will have cuts in the supply of water for human consumption until October of next year,” he stressed.
The president of the RTA explained that “a set of contingency measures to be adopted by tourism companies” was defined and these “go in the direction of having gains in water efficiency, on the one hand, and reductions in consumption, on the other” .
At the same time, it is recommendedthe use of alternative water sources“with a “greater balance between the capture of surface and groundwater”, according to the availability of each zone, reinforced João Fernandes.
The RTA proposal was “based” on “four areas”, such as “management, in which tourism companies propose to carry out periodic audits of water consumptionand the “involvement of clients and ‘staff’ in the detection of losses”, which allow “to adopt more responsible practices in the use of water”, he said.
Reinforcement of information to customers on “procedures for changing sheets and towels, a minimum period of use of towels of two days is established“, as well as the training of workers in specific sections, such as laundries, so that they adopt behaviors that promote water saving are other aspects of the RTA proposals, he added.
The president of the RTA has recalled that the sector has already been adopting measures in this field, such as flow reducers, installation of dual-flush toilets, tap timers, but it is increasingly necessary “to use inferior quality water for irrigation and washing” or “improve pool filter cleaning and water treatment to avoid the need to renew the water“.
It is also necessary, according to the official, “to reduce or adapt the cleaning techniques of common areas, avoiding washing with a hose or pressure machine, reducing or even canceling the operation of ornamental fountains, accelerating measures in terms of irrigation ” . that lead to greater efficiency, how to install meters in various sections, detect losses and better analyze consumption, and favor the use of endogenous species in green spaces, with less need for water”.
“What are we talking about right now? […] is the need to accelerate the implementation of water efficiency processes and even make —as is the case with ornamental fountains, the irrigation of green areas or the renovation of swimming pool water—, more circumstantial, punctual measures, due to the punctual hydric stress this summer”, he argued.
Regarding golf, João Fernandes highlighted the effort being made to increase irrigation with treated wastewater and which aims to multiply the total value used from one cubic hectometer to eight by the end of 2023.
The president of the RTA also highlighted the “reduction of the playing area to have less watered areachanging the grass to warm climate grass, with less water consumption” or “improvements in the efficiency of irrigation and drainage itself, creating common points of confluence of waters” as other measures to be adopted in golf, which is already “of the most environmentally sustainable tourism products”.
Source: Observadora
