«If we let this opportunity pass, there will not be another PRR and this one will end in 2026». The warning was made today by the Minister of the Environment, in Lagos, referring to the 76 million euros that the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) allocates to water issues in the Algarve.
Maria da Graça Carvalho was speaking during the inauguration of the total remodeling works at the Lagos Waste Water Treatment Station (WWTP), an intervention under the responsibility of the companies Águas do Algarve that cost 17 million euros and has an installed capacity to serve 138 thousand people, now gaining a biological treatment capacity that it did not previously have and thus producing treated water that can be reused to irrigate green spaces, golf courses and even, in the future, agricultural fields.
The minister added that, in the Algarve region, we can no longer just talk about drought, which is a cyclical situation, but rather about “scarcity”, since “the lack of water in the Algarve is recurrent” and tends to worsen. Hence, solutions cannot be transitory, but structural.
In this field, the investments foreseen in the PRR are included, which aim to increase water efficiency in the Algarve (the Barlavento/Sotavento connection, the Albufeira desalination plant, the Guadiana water intake in Pomarão) and will “add 76 cubic hectometers of water per year to the region's resilience", which is equivalent to "one year of urban consumption in the Algarve".
At this moment, stressed Graça Carvalho, «the watchword is no longer to discuss, it is to execute this equipment as quickly as possible». The fact is that, of the 76 million allocated to water problems in the Algarve region, only 5% of the planned investments have been implemented, between Águas do Algarve and Municipal projects.
We need to speed up, he urged, adding that “the Government is available to help you overcome any barriers that arise along the way”.
The Minister of the Environment also spoke about the easing of restrictions on water consumption in the region, which, after the severe restrictions enacted by the previous Government in February, made it possible to free up 20 hectares more for urban, tourist and agricultural consumption, in a measure announced on May 22, after the meeting of the Permanent Drought Commission in Faro, which was chaired by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The official highlighted that this decision was taken because, with what rained from January to March, «urban supply, which is always the priority, is assured for a year, even if it doesn't rain a drop of water again». In a press release sent to newsrooms, the minister reinforced: «the revocation of the previous Government's restrictive measures is the result of a lot of consideration and caution».
However, he added in Lagos, “the situation is dynamic” and “in two months we will reevaluate again”.
Later, speaking to journalists, Maria da Graça Carvalho explained that what was announced on May 22nd «it has to be translated into a resolution by the Council of Ministers. We will revoke the previous one [taken by the Government of António Costa, in February] and make a new resolution. It is practically ready and, in the week starting now the 10th, we hope to be able to take it to the Council of Ministers».
In addition to the investments foreseen in the PRR, the government official also referred to the 103 million euros for new investments in water efficiency in the Algarve, also announced on May 22nd by Luís Montenegro, and which come, essentially, from the Environmental Fund. These are investments to reduce losses in urban supply networks and reuse treated water in WWTPs (10 million euros) or to reduce losses in the agricultural sector in the Silves-Lagoa-Portimão irrigation perimeter (27 million). There is also «66 million from the Algarve PO for projects in the Algarve water area».
In other words, highlighted the Minister of Environment and Energy, there is «a great mission for the entire Algarve region», which is «to execute these financings that have very tight schedules».
On a World Environment Day entirely dedicated to the Algarve, under the sign of efficient water management and compliance with investments in the water sector, Maria da Graça Carvalho also participated, during the afternoon, in the conference “Water Resilience in the Algarve”, within the scope of Green Week of the European Union, organized by APA – Portuguese Environment Agency and AMAL – Intermunicipal Community of the region, in Lagos.
The Minister of Environment and Energy ends this day heading to Faro, where he meets with the president of the Chamber Rogério Bacalhau. This meeting «appears as a response from Maria da Graça Carvalho to the concerns that the mayor raised with her at a hearing, at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, in Lisbon. The protection of the coast, projects for the Ria Formosa and islands, among others, will be the central themes of the meeting», adds the minister's office.
Rogério Bacalhau advanced the Sul Informação that, on the table, there will still be the issue of passing it to the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Faro of the urban areas of the island of Culatra, which has long been negotiated with the APA, but has yet to be implemented.
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