I had the honor of signing, in 1991, in the exercise of government functions, the dispatch to launch the tender for the construction of the Odeleite dam, as well as the Tavira ETA a few days later. I had the firm idea that they were essential works for Sotavento. He was just a young man with responsibilities and convictions about what he was deciding.
The drama of the dry years of the early 80s was in our minds. With dry holes, without effective sanitation networks, streams with sewage and polluted beaches. Many do not imagine how it was. In the drama, the Balsemão Government created a team and an emergency fund to remedy what was possible.
Today, 30 to 40 years later, many people do not realize what our lives would be like without these works that are fundamental for human consumption, for tourism infrastructure and for irrigated agriculture that is successfully carried out in this region.
The municipal boreholes did not reach, the aquifers were then salty or with chlorides and other harmful elements. the meadows of Faro and from Tavira today they would no longer be able to produce anything very relevant.
At a good time, he moved forward.
At that time, hydraulic planning specialists also told us about Foupana, Vascão and Alportel river as ideas for future dams.
Since then, climate change is reducing the average rainfall by about 30mm every 10 years, which makes life very complicated. And while the United States of America, Brazil and Russia are presided over by madmen, with no respect for science and no common sense, things are not resolved. Just look at the fiasco of the recent Madrid summit dedicated to environmental issues.
Almost 30 years after the launch of Odeleite's work, although it came into full operation in 1998, it is time to take the next step.
Foupana is the dam that has to move forward quickly. It has the largest unutilized basin and is geographically well positioned to feed the current Odeleite-Beliche system, so it does not need additional works, just the simple connection.
Vascão is further away, it implies more complex works, even if in another generation it is inevitable.
The Alportel river had its dam under construction in the 30s of the last century, there is still half a project in sight, with walls and foundations almost intact 90 years later, about 10 kilometers upstream from Tavira, near Picota, something that few people know. But this work stopped for reasons that I have not been able to determine concretely until today.
When I exercised the functions of mayor of the Municipality of Tavira, an application was made to resume the process, but no funding was obtained.
The Municipality of S. Brás de Alportel since the 80s has been claiming a dam on the same river, in a site that uses only half a basin and at the time the concern was the water supply to the village, which is now ensured by the Odeleite-system. Beliche, through the company Águas do Algarve.
We have been going through a period of extreme drought in the Eastern Algarve, since the spring of 2019. The approximately 150mm fallen in this hydrological year, since October 1st, is a good hope, but until April we still need another 350mm, at the very least. We do not know if such luck will be in store for us. We are with the creed in our mouths, those who are aware of the problem.
Therefore, it is imperative to store more water so that the populations, companies and economy of Sotavento can function.
At stake are populations, tourism and the agriculture of fruit orchards, which we do with pleasure and with success.
We produce and export many tons of red fruits, citrus fruits, avocados, persimmons and various vegetables. And without golf courses, we will not be able to have tourism under competitive conditions.
Mayors, deputies, business associations have to fight to put the matter on the Government's agenda, which I believe is not being done, except for a better and more informed opinion.
Foupana has to be our goal in the 20s that are now beginning. Designing and building this work takes years and, if we have two or three dry years, we are all distressed and have no alternative solution.
Even this project should have been done longer ago and before the IC27 viaduct was built, according to the best experts, given that we now have an additional constraint.
The economy of our region gives the State, annually, in taxes, 35% of what it produces. It's a lot of money. Therefore, Prof Centeno, who has blood here, will have to take this matter into account.
But as he is not a specialist in water, other governments will have to sensitize him to budget for the dam project for 2021, with the condition that he is not subject to captivations, if not at all.
Author José Macário Correia, farmer.
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