The model for distributing the water available in the Santa Clara reservoir for the current irrigation campaign must consider, “fairly”, all farmers and cultures, defend the municipalities of Odemira and Aljezur.
The position of the two municipalities appears in a joint statement issued after “the disagreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the current management of the Associação de Beneficiários do Mira (ABM)” was made public, based in Odemira and which manages the Hydro-agricultural Use of the Aim.
According to the communiqué, the disagreement between the parties “resulted in a proposal, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, to dismiss the ABM board”.
Faced with this proposal, the two municipalities argue that “there is still room for dialogue between the parties, considering that there are internal democratic solutions, alternatives to the dismissal of the current ABM leadership”.
“At this time of high environmental, social and economic risk, more than adding uncertainties and legal litigation processes, it is important to resolve disputes and ensure that all interested parties are able to reach a joint agreement that guarantees certainties”, reads the communicated.
The two neighboring town halls also express their availability "to, once again, mediate understandings that guarantee social peace and the future" of the respective councils.
Served by the Santa Clara dam, located in the municipality of Odemira, the Mira hydro-agricultural project covers an area of 12.000 hectares in this municipality and in Aljezur.
As of today, the Santa Clara reservoir, which has the capacity to store 485.000.000 cubic meters of water, accounts for just 36% of its maximum volume, equivalent to 174.665.120 m3.
The municipalities of Odemira and Aljezur recall that “they have developed a series of efforts with the competent authorities and the Government itself with the objective of guaranteeing the future sustainability of these two territories”.
This posture, they continue, led to a “first commitment”, to “carry out a set of actions and investments aimed at a better and more robust management of the water coming from the Santa Clara reservoir”.
These actions include the implementation of a management model that will allow the dam to be restored to level 116 within a period of five years, as well as the implementation of an investment of 30 million euros, undertaken by the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Development Rural (DGADR), to reduce losses and improve the efficiency of the entire system downstream of the dam.
It is also planned to “design and carry out the necessary investment to guarantee the security of public supply, based on a dedicated capture and distribution model from the dam, in an approximate investment of 36 million euros” to be carried out by the company Águas Públicas do Alentejo ( AgdA), they add.
In addition to these investments, the Town Councils of Odemira and Aljezur expect the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) to “authorize the exploration [of the Santa Clara reservoir] at elevation 104”.
“And, below that, only and exclusively for human consumption, appearing to be the only possible solution, to date, to guarantee the availability of water for each of the different types of consumption”, they conclude.
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