Since the wells that supplied Corte do Gago, in Castro Marim, dried up, every day a tanker truck arrives to fill the water tank and guarantee the access of the population to an essential good, but scarce, due to the drought.

Located in the mountainous area of ​​that municipality in the northeast of the Algarve, between the Beliche and Odeleite dams, thanks to the daily work of António Cubaixo, an employee of the municipality, that the inhabitants of that town have water coming out of their tapsthese days.

“I come every day to bring water. The tank occupies 6,000 liters and takes about 20 minutes to fill. I load the truck in Castro Marim and then take the water to the towns that need it,” the municipal official told Lusa, who stressed that there are around four towns where he delivers water, all located “in this upper part” of the territory. .

The same source stressed that, with the wells that supplied the population without water, the transport and discharge that is carried out every day “is the only way to guarantee that these people have access to water” in their homes.

António Cubaixo explained that, during his working hours, he goes to Castro Marim several times to fetch water and then takes it to the villages and fills the public tanks, visiting other villages. such as Morroquil, Alcarias or Cortelha.

“I even fill the tank with 6,000 liters and I have to come here the same day to fill it up again because the water has run out,” said the municipal official, whose work is considered “fundamental” by residents like António Palma. and Almerinda Custodio.

Considering that the water transport carried out by the municipality is “very good” for the population, António Palma lamented, however, that “in the highest parts” of the town “just run a little water in the faucets” and “sometimes it doesn’t even work”.

“Sometimes you can’t take a shower, the pressure isn’t enough,” he said, explaining that some people “still have wells with water” or reservoirs and “can also water their small gardens.”

Almerinda Custódio, another of the residents of Corte do Gago, told Lusa that the situation created by the drought affecting Portugal -and, in particular, the Algarve and Baixo Guadiana- “is very bad” and acknowledged that “it has been hard”. to deal with irregularities in the flow of the water supply.

“Sometimes there is water, sometimes there isn’t. When the tank is full, the water comes out of the taps, but at this time of year there are also more people in the village, the water in the tank runs out and only returns when the truck refills it“, he added.

According to the resident of Corte do Gago, at this time of year, the usual population of 30 neighbors “doubles or triples” and the water runs out faster.

The lack of pressure in the faucets also “creates difficulties in showering, because the water does not have the strength to make the thermos work well,” as well as “in using the washing machines” for clothes or dishes, he exemplified. .

“And we are in this situation, even with the town here next to the Beliche dam, and the Odeleite dam above,” he said, lamenting the lack of a direct connection with these two dams.

Those two dams, which supply water to the municipalities of the eastern (eastern) Algarve, they only have reserves to ensure human consumption until next yearaccording to estimates by environmental authorities.

Castro Marim fears water cuts next summer if it doesn’t rain

The mayor of Castro Marim is “very worried” with the drought that is hitting the Algarve and Baixo Guadiana, fearing that if it does not rain next year there will be “substantial cuts” in the water supply.

In statements to Lusa, Francisco Amaral classified as “disturbing” the situation of the water reserves of the Odeleite reservoir, which, together with the Beliche reservoir, supplies the leeward (east) of the Algarve, and estimated that the water available at this time only guarantees supply for one year, in the event of that the situation of the records of drought and rainfall do not improve.

“I believe that we already have water for a year, imagine that this winter it does not rain: I believe that next summer there will be substantial cuts and I think the economy of the Algarve is at risk“, has warned the mayor, who is serving his third term as head of the municipality, after five as mayor of Alcoutim.

Francisco Amaral criticized political decision makers for the “delay” in responding to a “emergency situation” like the one created by the drought in Portugaland in the Algarve, calling for solutions to be quickly adopted to increase water reserves.

“To find the location of the desalination plant [prevista para a região] we’ve been at this for a year. We started with five or six possibilities, now we’re down to two, and the location still hasn’t been found. All of this is very, very slow, it is the project, the preliminary project, then the Environmental Impact Study, and I do not see that, in the next three or four years, there can be a desalination plant,” he said.

The mayor of Castro Marim also gave the example of the “Pomarão water pipe [no concelho de Mértola] to the Odeleite dam“, considering that this alternative will also “take years” to be working.

Francisco Amaral defended the need for an “emergency mechanism” to respond more quickly to the severity of this drought and once again defended the construction of a dam on the Foupana stream, another tributary of the Guadiana river, located north of the stream and dam. . from Odeleita.

“The former Minister of the Environment [João Pedro Matos Fernandes] I was bitterly against dams and I have yet to see whyI think there is a bit of environmental fundamentalism in the midst of all this,” he said.

According to Francisco Amaral, the “flow of the Foupana stream is identical to that of Odeleite” and “if there were another dam the problem would be more or less solved,” he argued.

On the other hand, climate change causes intense rains and the creation of a new retention structure would guarantee that “the water was not lost in the sea“, he justified.

The mayor of Alcoutim, which shares the mountainous territory of the northeast of the Algarve with Castro Marim, was also in favor of building a new dam on the Foupana stream to “take advantage of the higher rainfall that has been felt in this area of ​​​​the Algarve in the past last years”. years”.

“Perhaps I was one of the first to speak about this solution for the Foupana dam and stated that this dam would be essential to expand the availability of water to more territory in the northeast of the Algarve,” Osvaldo Gonçalves told Lusa.

A new dam at Foupana would also allow “benefit parishes that are not covered by the Odeleite irrigation perimeterbut more importantly, it would function as a conduit to transport water from Foupana to the Odeleite basin”, he justified.

Osvaldo Gonçalves positioned himself “clearly in favor of creating another dameven knowing that there are contrary opinions” from environmentalists, because “if you don’t take advantage of the little water that falls, you will have more and more deficit” in the water available for consumption.

“I am in favor of looking at the Foupana dam again,” he reiterated, asking for “more speed” in the creation of solutions such as the desalination plant, which “should already be underway instead of deciding where it should be done.” .

The installation of a desalination plant in the region is one of the measures provided for in the Algarve Regional Water Efficiency Plan, for which 200 million euros are allocated from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).