A total of 34 public and private entities signed this Tuesday, in Odemira, in the district of Beja, a manifesto that calls for strengthening the availability of water in the southwest of the Alentejo and the Algarve.
The manifesto, titled “Water at the service of the future,” was signed at 12:00 p.m., during the first meeting of the movement of the same name, which took place in a hotel at the Santa Clara dam, in the Alentejo municipality of Odemira.
In the document, to which the Lusa agency had access, the subscribers remember that “Portugal is one of the countries in the south of “Europe will be the one that will suffer the most from the impact of climate change.”
Therefore, “the availability of water is one of the biggest challenges facing the world” and “Portugal, specifically the south of the country and in particular the southwestern regions of the Alentejo and the Algarve, are no exception,” it can be said. read.
For the signatories of the manifesto, “the solution to overcome the reality that exists today and is expected for the future” in this area of the country, in relation to the availability of water, “exists and is identified”, including “A National Plan for Water.”
This instrument, they say, will allow us to reinforce “the availability of water in the regions most affected by drought, bringing water from where it is abundant to where it is scarce.”
To this end, the reinforcement of Alqueva “as a large reservoir for water regularization in the south of the country” and the Santa Clara Dam “as ‘center’ for the distribution of water to the southwest of the Alentejo and the Barlavento Algarvio.”
This solution will make it possible to take advantage of this reservoir, which is “one of the largest water reservoirs in the country,” and turn it into “the ‘lung’ of water capable of serving these two regions and guaranteeing the survival of these territories,” they defend.
The document also requests “the Alqueva-Mira-Odelouca-Bravura interconnection”, which “is already connected by tunnel to the Funcho-Arade system, lacking the interconnection with the [Barragem da] Courage”, in the Algarve.
Finally, the manifesto maintains that “the rehabilitation of the infrastructure of the water distribution system”, which, “may be operational 3/4 years after the decision is made, have the capacity to guarantee the water resources necessary for current consumption and future. in a sustainable, fair and competitive manner, in the southwest of the Alentejo and the Algarve.”
“This is a solution that, in total, represents an investment of about 130 million euros,” the document highlights.
The signatories of the manifesto also affirm that it is “urgent to implement” what “has already been approved and has not yet advanced,” as well as “the modernization projects planned and with approved financing.”
And they demand progress “towards the total pressurization of the irrigation perimeters, especially the Mira Irrigation Perimeter, which in 2023 recorded losses in the distribution system of around 48%, or that of Alvor, in Barlavento Algarvio.”
This “is the time to decide”, as well as to “act” and “build the solution that can guarantee the future of these regions, their companies and their people,” the document warns.
The Alentejo municipalities of Odemira and Ourique and the Algarve municipalities of Aljezur, Lagoa, Lagos, Monchique and Vila do Bispo are some of the signatories of the document, as is the Intermunicipal Community of Bajo Alentejo (CIMBAL).
The manifesto also has as signatories Lusomorango, which is an organization of producers in the horticultural sector, the Association of Horticulturists, Fruit Growers and Flower Growers of the Municipalities of Odemira and Aljezur (AHSA), the National Federation of Irrigators, the Hotel, Restaurants and Similar of Portugal and agricultural companies.
Other subscribers are the regional tourism entities of Alentejo and Ribatejo and Algarve or the mining company Somincor, concessionaire of the Neves-Corvo mine, in the municipality of Castro Verde.
Source: Observadora
