The Permanent Committee for Prevention, Monitoring and Monitoring of the Effects of Drought (CPPMAES) will meet until May 10th, in Faro. At this meeting, new decisions on the management of water resources in the Algarve will be coordinated.
This committee is chaired by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes.
At this meeting, new decisions on the management of water resources in the Algarve will be coordinated.
According to Cristóvão Norte, deputy and President of PSD Algarve, “those who govern obviously don’t make it rain, but can implement public investments and decisions of various natures, with a view to alleviating the problem. Even today, the people of the Algarve wonder why the connection to Pomarão, the Foupana Dam, the desalination plant or the demanding fight against the losses that occur in the urban water cycle, among others, has not yet been completed”.
“Today, we are paying the price for apathy and political muteness. It is necessary to make up for lost time and take measures with a real impact on the future, but it is not easy to solve the problem overnight. Anyone who says otherwise deceives people”, emphasizes Norte.
The PSD Algarve said “no to increasing water prices and dropped the measure, as it was unfair, incomprehensible and unfounded and applied to all municipalities, even those that complied with ERSAR guidelines”.
In a statement, this party highlights that the “previous government also approved a 25% cut in supply to the agricultural sector and 15% in urban supply, which revealed an inability to implement a global plan in which the needs for water use are correlated. for multiple purposes with adequate storage capacities, promoting the coherent and efficient use of water, guaranteeing universal access”.
“Fortunately, the last two months have revealed an increase in precipitation in the Algarve, which has slightly alleviated the critical situation that the region is experiencing in terms of extreme drought. The measures in force put the maintenance of production at risk and lead to losses in the profitability and survival of agricultural holdings and the employment associated with them”, highlights Cristóvão Norte.
“It is a fact that the Algarve did not go from scarcity to abundance. But it is also no less true that with reservoirs more composed – they reveal levels similar to the same period in 2023 – it is important to re-evaluate the cuts imposed on the agricultural sector, checking whether there are conditions to alleviate the impositions and guarantee more water for farmers to be able to produce. And it would be a very important decision for the sector and for the Algarve, which, if taken, must be taken with certainty, safety and without creating the conviction that the problem has been overcome, as it is not”, he concludes.
