Water consumption in the Algarve has decreased since May by between 9.6% in the urban sector and 35% in agriculture, with the region maintaining the restrictions defined that month until the end of the year, the Environment Minister revealed this Friday.
“Everyone made an effort, but there are some sectors that performed better than others. The agriculture sector was the one that made the greatest effort”, Graça Carvalho highlighted to journalists, after the meeting of the Regional Sub-committee of the Southern Zone of the Reservoirs Management Commission, held in Faro.
In May, the Government led by Luís Montenegro had eased the restrictions imposed on water consumption in agriculture and the urban sector in the Algarve, initially defined in February by the previous executive, led by António Costa, to deal with the drought in the region.
“It was agreed that agriculture and tourism would make a 13% effort to save water. Agriculture made 35%, villages and developments that signed up to the ‘Save Water’ seal saved 14%, golf made a big effort, saving 22%, and municipalities, which should have saved 10%, saved 9.6%”, specified the minister.
Graça Carvalho admitted, however, that “there is inequality” between municipalities, adding: “There are municipalities that saved a lot and there are others that did not save, they remained more or less the same”.
In this sense, the Minister of Environment and Energy guaranteed that, until the end of the year, the restrictions defined in May will remain in place.
“There is no worsening because, on average, we managed to exceed what we wanted to save and, therefore, we can say: the Algarve, as a whole, saved more water than we intended. This is very good. We have 16 cubic hectometres more than last year at the same time. But to say that last year was a year of very severe drought, we have to continue making a great effort”, he pointed out.
The final report will be produced at the end of 2024 and the Government promises to act if municipalities or other sectors “continue not to save”, adjusting measures according to expenditure and water availability.
In addition to saving on consumption, the minister highlighted that it is necessary to “have new water sources” and highlighted the set of investments for the Algarve in this sector, budgeted at 360 million euros, with 260 million coming from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
Graça Carvalho said that the tender for the award of the desalination plant project, to be built in the municipality of Albufeira, “is already in the final phase”, and that 100% financing by the PRR will be guaranteed if the project is carried out quickly.
“If the project moves forward quickly, there will be no problem in it being entirely financed by the PRR, because we need projects that are executed quickly. If everything goes well, it can be financed 100% by the PRR. I hope that this is the solution”, said the minister.
The president of the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL), António Miguel Pina, warned in August that 50 million euros are missing to finance the work on the future desalination plant, compared to the support provided for in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
“The project initially had a certain value perspective and today, we know, it will be between 106, 108 million (euros). The two proposals presented were in that order of values, which means that there is a further 50 million (euros) needed to finance 100% of this investment”, said the mayor at the time.
On the other hand, the Minister of Environment and Energy will meet next week with her Spanish counterpart, Teresa Ribera, to finalize the agreement between the two countries that will allow the advancement of water capture from the Guadiana River, in the Pomarão area, Mértola municipality, Beja district, to supply the Algarve.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
