Farmers celebrate easing of restrictions but call for clarification
The Portuguese government announced last week an easing of water restrictions in the Algarve and an additional €103 million investment in water efficiency projects. This year’s rainfall has helped improve the region’s drought situation, which authorities warn is “still delicate”.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro made the announcement last Wednesday afternoon (May 22) after a meeting of the region’s drought commission in Faro.
“The government has decided to revoke Resolution 26A of 2024, dated February 20, and in the coming weeks, another resolution will be approved and published which aims to continue a policy of responsibility while still easing the restrictions that are currently in place due to the situation in 2023,” Montenegro said.
In other words, the much-maligned resolution which everyone from farmers to business owners had criticised for reasons ranging from it being too harsh to confusing is being revoked to make way for a new one.
Restrictions on water consumption are being reduced from 25% to 13% for agriculture and from 15% to 10% for the urban sector – including tourism. This translates into a “reduction of about 20 cubic hectometres” in terms of the “restriction that is currently in place for all areas of activity”, divided between “2.65 cubic hectometres (hm3) of relief in urban consumption, 13.14 hm3 in agricultural consumption, and 4.17 hm3 in tourism consumption,” explained the PM.
The “greater relief” provided to the agricultural sector was justified by the fact that it was “also the sector that faced the greatest restrictions,” Montenegro said, attributing the government’s decision to this year’s rainfall, which has improved the overall water reserve situation in the region.
“We have taken this measure aware of the positive evolution of the hydrological situation in recent months, aware that water is a scarce resource that needs to be protected, preserved, and well-managed, and aware that maintaining this policy also implies reinforcing investments, in addition to all the monitoring we have done today and will do again next August, precisely to assess the measures we are now taking,” the PM added.
Despite the more positive outlook, Montenegro warned that the Algarve is not out of the woods yet as the region’s drought situation persists and there is a need to preserve water resources.
The prime minister also said it is necessary to “reduce losses in various water uses” and to use wastewater in cases where it is viable, such as at golf courses, adding that the government’s goal is also to promote investment that “can help in this more efficient water management.”
The government is also investing an additional €103 million in water efficiency projects in the Algarve, having highlighted €27 million for “strengthening water efficiency measures in the Silves, Lagoa, and Portimão agricultural perimeter,” and €10 million for “enhancing water efficiency measures in public supply and for the use of treated wastewater.”
It has also decided to launch “various studies to assess the water potential of river basins, notably the Alportel basin, and to evaluate underground water availability.”
Adds the government in a statement, these are in addition to the investments planned under the RRP (Recovery and Resilience Plan), amounting to €237.4 million (with only 5% of it executed so far), “including priority and relevant projects such as the Pomarão water intake to increase inflows to the Odeleite dam, the Albufeira desalination plant, and groundwater monitoring.”
“We need to know what to do, when, and how” – say farmers
While farmers in the Algarve have celebrated the easing of water restrictions, they have also criticised the government for leaving them out of the decision-making process.
In statements to the Lusa news agency, Macário Correia, president of the Association of Beneficiaries of the Sotavento (Eastern) Algarve Irrigation Plan, said that the irrigators “view the easing of restrictions positively, although many doubts still need to be clarified.”
Correia, also the spokesperson for the Algarve Hydroagricultural Sustainability Commission (CSHA) – formed in January by 120 producers, farmers, and regional irrigation associations – lamented that the government made the decision “without speaking to irrigation associations and the municipalities, the main stakeholders.”
“The government came to the Algarve with six members and several general directors and left. So far, no one has spoken to us, and we only learned about it through the media, which naturally leaves many doubts because we do not have detailed information,” he said.
According to Macário Correia, irrigators need to “know more” than just what is stated in the government’s press release, namely “when the new restrictions will take effect and when the Council of Ministers’ resolution will be issued.”
The former mayor of Faro and Tavira also said farmers “need to know the schedule of the works that were announced, which are not new, because the money has been available for some time, but the works have not been carried out, and the money is still there.”
“We need to know what to do, when, and how,” he said, adding that some of the announcements made “are not credible”, such as “saying that a desalination plant and the Pomarão to Odeleite pipeline can be built in less than two years; this is not credible.”
As Correia points out, “negotiations with Spain regarding the Pomarão to Odeleite pipeline” have not yet even begun.
“There are tenders to be held, and there is a 40-kilometer project to be executed. All this cannot be done in less than two years. You cannot announce millions for tomorrow when they are not easy to execute,” he said.
Macário Correia also said he expects that “someone will speak with the associations representing the irrigators soon to explain how it will be done and ask for their cooperation”.
Municipalities welcome new, “balanced” restrictions
António Pina, president of the Algarve Municipalities Association (AMAL), welcomed the announcement of the easing of water restrictions in the region, calling them “balanced.”
Pina, also mayor of Olhão, warned, however, that everyone must not forget that the Algarve is still in a situation of drought.
“The important thing is that we don’t take the focus off the fact that the situation we are living in is still very critical. There’s no reason to forget that we’re in a situation of scarcity. Now that we have the same water we had a year ago, it was reasonable to reduce the restrictions,” said Pina.
What would have been “unreasonable” would have been the end of all restrictions, as it would “give the wrong image to consumers in general.”
Pina also lamented that municipalities were not invited to the government’s meeting with the drought commission and that the additional €103 million for investments in water efficiency are not going to the “sector with the highest execution rate, which is the municipalities.”
“What we have been asking for is a reinforcement of the funds allocated to the urban sector so that, in the fight against losses, we can go further than what is possible,” he said, pointing out that there is still work to be done by municipalities to resolve losses in the public supply networks.
