The expansion project for the Monte Rei Golf Course, located in the parish of Vila Nova de Cacela, municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, is «incompatible with the water emergency in the Algarve», considers the environmental association ZERO.
The project, which corresponds to the construction of a new 18-hole golf course and whose public consultation period on the Environmental Compliance Report of the Execution Project (RECAPE) ended last Thursday, covers an intervention area of more than 56 hectares of which around 30 hectares are occupied by lawns.
ZERO recalls that the project had already been subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure, which culminated in the issuance of a conditional favorable Environmental Impact Statement (DIA), issued on December 20, 2019, which was subject to a request for an extension in October 2023.
Now that RECAPE has been in public consultation, the environmental association argues that the «conditions imposed by DIA, on water resources, are out of step with the current situation of drought and water scarcity that affects the region».
This is because, ZERO highlights, «the Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) issued in 2019 required that, in the RECAPE phase, the golf course's irrigation system be prepared to, in the future, use other sources of water, in addition to supplied by the Association of Beneficiaries of the Sotavento Algarvio Irrigation Plan (ABPRSA), particularly from the reuse of wastewater, since, in a situation of severe drought, supply from ABPRSA could be suspended».
Faced with a worsening situation of water scarcity, environmentalists consider that «the conditions imposed by the DIA do not constitute a guarantee of safeguarding the environmental and social interests of the Algarve region, which is facing an unprecedented situation of water scarcity, worsened by climate change and the high tourist pressure».
Given what they consider “a condition that is out of step with the current reality of the region”, RECAPE “does not envisage the use of water sources other than that supplied by ABPRSA, justifying itself with the high costs associated with the construction of a connection between the WWTP of Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA) and with the possibility that, in the medium term, the reuse of wastewater in irrigation could become a reality given the measures implemented in the region to optimize the management and distribution of water for irrigation, assuming that in the short term access to water will not be limited by ABPRSA».
For all these reasons, reinforces ZERO, the «construction of a new golf course is yet another threat to the region's already very fragile water sustainability».
According to data from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the Algarve is in the worst situation ever in terms of water resources, with reservoirs recording very low levels of storage, not reaching 20% in some of them.
The president of Águas do Algarve, António Eusébio, recognized, at the end of 2023, that "there is a lot of water" in the region and expressed fear about the near future, admitting that it might be necessary to impose limits on consumption in 2024, a situation that has already been achieved in the most recent measures aimed at tackling the drought in Alentejo and Algarve, which predict a reduction in consumption imposed on public supply, agricultural supply and tourism.
In this context, ZERO emphasizes, «it is not reasonable for RECAPE to assume that there will be no restrictions on the use of water for irrigation of the golf course by ABPRSA and that another form of irrigation be considered other than, exclusively, through the use of treated wastewater'.
«The construction of a new golf course with a lawn area of more than 30 hectares, which obviously involves a high consumption of water for irrigation, is a threat to the water sustainability of the Algarve, which already suffers from water scarcity with an impact in essential activities for the population and the local economy», adds the environmental association.
Another aspect that raises concern in this project, according to ZERO, «is the use of fertilizers and phytopharmaceuticals for the maintenance of golf course lawns, and the negative consequences that may arise for the quality of groundwater and surface water, as well as for local biodiversity”.
In the case of impacts on water resources, these can be «especially serious in a region that is extremely dependent on scarce existing water resources, the quality of which is essential to guarantee».
In view of all this, ZERO «expressed its unfavorable opinion on the project to expand the Monte Rei golf course, considering that it is incompatible with the water emergency that is being experienced in the Algarve and could jeopardize the fundamental rights of the population, namely the right to access to a sufficient quantity of water and of adequate quality”.
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