Algarve municipalities most affected by drought resist increasing water tariff

Aljezur and Lagos have not yet decided whether they will comply with the Government's recommendation to increase the water bill of large consumers

Source in operation in an Algarve city – Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação

The Government's appeal is for the water tariff to be increased for large consumers in the 43 municipalities most affected by the drought, but Aljezur and Lagos, which are on this list, admit not to comply, at least in full and before evaluating "alternatives ».

On Wednesday, the 24th, following the meeting of the Standing Committee for the Prevention, Monitoring and Monitoring of Drought, the ministers of the Environment and Agriculture announced 11 new measures to mitigate the effects of drought, which join the 82 already released.

Ten of these measures are aimed at the 43 municipalities «supplied by critical systems» and, as such, more vulnerable to the effects of drought, among which are Aljezur, Lagos and Vila do Bispo.

One of the Government's decisions was to "recommend a tariff increase for large domestic users during the dry season", namely, "from the 3rd step", that is, consumption of "15 cubic meters or more".

The list also included a recommendation to municipalities to "apply measures to temporarily suspend non-essential uses of mains water, namely washing streets, patios and containers, watering gardens and green spaces, refilling swimming pools, decorative fountains and water-intensive activities'.

According to Paulo Reis, vice-mayor of Lagos, the most populous Algarve municipality among the three targeted, this last recommendation is not only welcomed, but “is already being applied” in this municipality.

However, the suggestion of increasing the water tariff above the 3rd step raises some doubts.

«We have already carried out a survey, based on August consumption data, and there are about 4900 large consumers in the municipality, who consume more than 15 cubic meters of water. Of these, about 220 are garden and swimming pool irrigation meters», he added, in statements to the Sul Informação.

According to the mayor of Lacobrigena, it is necessary to «first consider whether it will not be possible to reduce consumption by applying other measures and whether or not there is an alternative to increasing the tariff».

“Eventually, we can only choose to increase the tariffs for pool and garden irrigation meters”, he admitted.

However, Paulo Reis has no doubts that sacrifices will have to be made. «We all have to convince ourselves that we have to fill the pools less often, water less and save water».

José Gonçalves, mayor of Aljezur, told our newspaper that his municipality is still going to assess whether it “accepts the measure or not”.

This is because, in Aljezur, «there is already a higher tariff for large consumers: we will assess the situations, because there are large consumers, such as restaurants, who can see their business being derailed with this increase in the price of water».

This was, moreover, one of the topics discussed at a meeting of the association Terras do Infante, which brings together the three municipalities, held this Thursday afternoon.

However, José Gonçalves warned, this problem is not limited to these three municipalities: «the lack of water is general and the measure must be more comprehensive».

A message that had already been transmitted yesterday by Duarte Cordeiro, Minister of the Environment, who stressed that any municipality can follow suit. "I would recommend this measure to any municipality in the country," he said, following the meeting.

The mayor of Aljezur also assures that the Algarve municipalities, «namely Aljezur, have already been taking measures, such as the reduction of irrigation, the expenses of the Chamber itself and awareness campaigns».

These measures that have been implemented in the Algarve region were agreed upon by the different municipalities, in meetings of AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve.

But there are those who are willing to go even further than what has been recommended by AMAL, how is the Loulé case, which decided to extend the closing of the indoor swimming pools in this city and Quarteira until the end of September and to close the outdoor swimming pools in Loulé and Salir on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

In Lagos, said Paulo Reis, the reformulation of green spaces is already underway, in order to make them less dependent on water.

“We are reconverting some green spaces. In the others, we are letting the plants dry and then we will see how we do it», explained the vice-president of the Lagos Chamber.

“We have already reduced by 60 or 70% the volume of water we use for irrigation”, he added.

The same happens in Albufeira, where «interventions in green spaces» are underway, namely in the Albufeira Marina, where the grass is being replaced «by other plants», so that «watering is not by sprinkling, which wastes more water, but drop by drop», according to José Carlos Rolo, Mayor albufeira.

There are also other municipalities willing to go further and take new measures or intensify those already in place.

But, even so, and all over the Algarve, it is possible to see fountains and fountains working and green spaces being watered, with water running onto the road, among other bad practices. In addition to the obvious waste of water, what is at stake in these bad examples is the contradictory message that is passed on to the population.

 

 

 



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