The first water efficiency work in the Algarve region, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), is a month and a half away from completion.
Interventions at the Odeleite dam, in the municipality of Castro Marim, will, according to Duarte Cordeiro, Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, allow «an addition of 15 cubic hectometers, something like what corresponds to 7% of the water consumption of the Algarve, or 20% of human consumption».
The work, which cost 2,4 million euros, is one of those that aims to increase the available capacity and resilience of the existing reservoirs/high water supply systems and reinforce it with new sources of water, to which are added other initiatives such as the installation of desalination plant in the Algarve.
«Right now, the Algarve is one of the areas of the country that worries us the most», stressed Duarte Cordeiro during the visit, on the morning of yesterday, to the Algarve dam, where he also stressed that different realities are experienced in Sotavento and Barlavento.
In Sotavento, the rains of December and January have already reduced the dams to 60% of their storage capacity, «while in the Barlavento area we are concerned, because we have dams with lower supply levels», continued the minister.
Regarding the work on the Odeleite dam, which will be concluded shortly, António Eusébio, president of Águas do Algarve, explains that it only remains to complete the electrical connections and finish the last assemblies on the floating platform.
«The objective, which was to ensure, if necessary, the supply of dead volume water in the summer, is anticipated, and, fortunately, this year, it will not be necessary. As it rained, the dam has already fitted values above 50% of the total and so this year we even have some surplus on this side of the Sotavento Algarve», he told the Sul Informação.
Even so, as already mentioned by the minister, António Eusébio says that, on the Barlavento side, «there are more problems», but he is optimistic, stressing that «we are still in the middle of the wet period and we hope to still be able to manage».
Photos: Mariana Sedge | Sul Informação
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