The death of farm animals in the parishes of Martim Longo (Alcoutim) and Ameixial (Loulé) may be related to a possible contamination of the Ribeira do Vascão, warned Cumeadas, an association of producers in the Northeast of Algarve. Goats and farmers from this area of the interior of the region denounced that the water has "a strange smell and some ponds have black sediments".
According to the association “there seems to be a correlation between animals drinking from the river and their death”. Because, «with the worsening of the drought, the animals in extensive grazing seek water and, naturally, they can even drink from the small ponds that still exist in Ribeira do Vascão».
Suspicion that poor water quality from natural sources may be the cause of unusual animal mortality had already been advanced to the South Informaby the goat breeder André Palma Mateus, from Feital, Corte João Marques, in the Parish of Ameixial (Loulé).
«I have already died of cattle, due to the bad waters. The food is also poor and, with the slightest carelessness, they die. I have all the vaccinations in order, but that's not enough», summed up this Algarvian goat farmer.
The sad proof of this reality was the goat that had died shortly before this conversation between our newspaper and the goat farmer, on the way to the countryside.
André Palma Mateus revealed that he has even had to seal with a net a pond he has on his land, where he usually takes his flock, to prevent the animals from drinking the little (and bad) water that still exists there. On the other hand, you must be especially careful not to let the animals drink from the natural ponds, including those that still exist in Ribeira do Vascão, located very close to your property.
Contacted by Sul Informação, the Administration of the Hydrographic Region (ARH) of the Algarve, an entity supervised by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), confirmed that it has received this alert from Cumeadas and that it will check the situation as soon as possible.
«This was the first indication that we have received of a potential contamination of the Ribeira do Vascão and we will check it soon, depending also on what the scheduled departures are», revealed Anabela Dores, from ARH-APA.
"According to the technicians, the latest analyses, which were carried out in June, indicated that everything was normal and that there was no sign of contamination," he added.
But since then, there has been a whole summer of high temperatures – in the North East of the Algarve, thermometers have often gone above 40 degrees – which did not end in September, as is natural, and continued into October.
Combined with the drought that was already felt and the (very) little rain that had fallen since the beginning of the year, this unusually hot and long summer meant that many natural water courses and sources and ponds in the interior of the Algarve and Alentejo were almost dry. completely. AND, despite the fact that most dams in the region are still at high levels, namely the ones in Sotavento – Odeleite and Beliche -, the water they hold does not reach producers in the Northeast of the Algarve.
In the letter sent to the APA, but also to the SEPNA of the GNR and the Algarve Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries, denouncing this "possible situation of environmental pollution", Cumeadas asked "that the quality of the water in the ponds be verified and that also check the source of the contamination, if any'.
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