Could jeopardise ecological balance of Guadiana river
Portuguese environment agency APA has authorised the transfer of water from the Guadiana river in Mértola to the Algarve’s Odeleite/ Beliche dam, via a 40 km pipeline. The plan is to help supply the eastern Algarve with drinking water at a time of water scarcity – but it is not without risks, as SIC Notícias and RTP has been hearing.
There are “many doubts about the cost and effectiveness”, writes SIC. “There are also fears that (the transfers) will jeopardise the ecological balance of the river”.
For example, they will inpact flora and fauna. “Then there is the visual and noise issue for residents of Formoa, the small neighbouring town of Pomarão, which will be in front of the catchment system”.
And then there’s the fact that the provisional estimate (as with the Albufeira desalination plant plan) is expected to increase exponentially – all for an amount of water that won’t (in the end) make a whole lot of difference.
Municipality of Mértola demands compensatory measures
APA’s approval is conditional on the demands of the municipality of Mértola, which, faced with this latest news, has demanded compensatory measures for participating in the project, explains SIC.
Measures already guaranteed (by the Ministry of the Environment) include linking the towns of Espírito Santo and Mesquita with the supply network. These currently depend on boreholes, and when water is not available, they are “often supplied by tankers”.
The navigability of the Guadiana to Mértola – a long-standing desire of the municipality – is another of the ‘quid pro quos’ on the table.
According to SIC, “the hectometres of water coming from the Guadiana will help guarantee levels (in Odeleite/ Beliche) that are often at the limit. They are intended for human consumption and to guarantee a large part of the Algarve’s economic activity – but the solution is seen as a mere drop in the ocean for requirements, at too high a price”.
And nothing can move forwards without Spain’s agreement
For the project to move forwards, there has to be agreement with Spain (which there isn’t yet, in spite of this project being formulated by authorities in Portugal many years ago).
A meeting with Spanish counterparts is scheduled for later this month in Madrid. Then will be the moment to hear what kind of ‘compensatory measures’ Spain wants, says SIC.
“All told, the Pomarão to Odeleite transfer will cost around €60 million – fully financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). It is a sticking plaster solution, that will not heal a wound that is likely to get bigger as a result of climate change and the advance of physical desertification”.
In order to solve the Algarve’s water shortage once and for all, various organisations have been pointing to other solutions (as written about before in the Resident).
Environmental associations and some of the Algarve’s municipalities have also expressed their opposition to this project, due to the expected impacts on both nature and the communities affected by the pipeline, adds SIC.
