Irrigated farmers have appealed for better use of the water the country has, believing there are solutions to its scarcity in the Algarve, a region where reserves are at extremely low levels.
“There are more alternatives than what is said. There are solutions, and they are very close by. We are not exactly in need of bringing water from Minho to the Algarve”, the president of the National Federation of Irrigators of Portugal (Fenareg), José Núncio, told the Lusa news agency.
The president of the federation - which represents around 28,000 irrigating farmers, more than 97% of national organized irrigation - spoke to Lusa on the sidelines of the Irrigation Meeting 2023: XIV Jornadas da Fenareg, which came to a close in Alcantarilha, yesterday.
“Even close by there is potential to use water. We have a Guadiana that has water, we have an aquifer that is the second most important aquifer in Portugal, which also has exploration possibilities”, he assured, adding that “if there are areas that are over-exploited, other areas have exploration potential”.
The Algarve is the region that faces the biggest water shortage problem in the country, with water reserves in the reservoirs of the hydro-agricultural projects of Bravura (08%) and Arade (15%), in the western (western) Algarve, at extremely low levels.
The president of the Portuguese governors asks that we “look at all the solutions”, because “there is not a single solution”, but rather “a 'mix' of solutions”, arguing that there will have to be “reserve solutions for very drastic situations” .
“We have to study case by case, we cannot just complain that the water may be poorly distributed. Portugal has water, it has a lot of water and we have to have the capacity to manage and use it ”, said José Núncio at the end of the two day meeting.
At the round table that took place on the first day of the meeting, solutions for irrigation in times of scarcity were discussed, namely surface water and the perspective of increasing storage capacity.
As for groundwater, strategies for recharging aquifers were discussed, as well as irrigation with water for reuse and the use of deficit irrigation.
The construction of new reservoirs or the transfer of water flows from the North to the South of the country were other possible solutions to the chronic problem of water shortages in the Algarve that were mentioned during the meeting.
At the closing session of the meeting, the Secretary of State for Agriculture of the Government in office since Friday, Gonçalo Rodrigues, stated that “the path must continue to be followed”. He highlighted “the continued work” of the executive, “in an attempt to find solutions and respond to the needs of those in charge, trying to meet their expectations and trying to find solutions”.
Source Lusa
