The Minister of the Environment has announced investments to be made in Vilamoura and Quinta do Lago, which will help to irrigate almost half of the region's golf courses with recycled water by 2026.
The Government apparently has “several objectives”, one of which is “finding alternative sources of water” and, “most importantly”, using water from wastewater treatment plants.
“With these 8.0 cubic hectometres we will be able to irrigate half of the golf courses in the Algarve”, said the Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, who was attending the two ongoing project presentations made by Águas do Algarve.
Águas do Algarve, responsible for the Algarve's multi-municipal water supply and sanitation system, foresees a global investment of 23 million euros by 2025, estimating an increase from 1.4 to 8.0 cubic hectometres per year, with 71 % to use by golf courses.
“We currently have 2.0 cubic hectometres that we use in the Algarve”, said Duarte Cordeiro, adding that “the objective is to multiply by four” by 2026.
These two investment projects will be completed using funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
In Vilamoura, at this stage, an investment of 12 million euros is planned to complete around 12 kilometres of piping to the Vilamoura wastewater treatment plant by 2025, for the irrigation of five golf courses (Old Course, Pinhal, Laguna, Millenium, Victoria) and irrigation of green spaces, among others.
In Quinta do Lago, the investment amounts to 2.7 million euros for the expansion of the piping system for three more golf courses, Quinta do Lago Norte, Quinta do Lago Sul and Pinheiros Altos, among others, also to complete in 2025.
“In parallel, we have to be able to have a strong supervisory attitude against the misuse and waste of water, while these investments do not begin to produce results”, said Duarte Cordeiro.
Regarding the project to build another dam in the Algarve, on the Foupana river, the minister was clear: “For now, we are committed to carrying out a study”.
According to figures provided by Duarte Cordeiro “overall water consumption in the Algarve decreased up until August compared to last year by around 5.0 hectometres, to which total agricultural and urban consumption contributed”.
“I think we are all working hard and we can work better. We are all aware that we still have a lot of work to do in raising people's awareness and we can all achieve even more results with this awareness”.
