Sustainability and efficiency are two of the characteristics that mark the “Water in the West” project. The initiative, which aims to develop a municipal water plan, was presented on April 23rd in a workshop conducted by the Alcobaça Apple Producers Association (APMA), in partnership with the Alcobaça Chamber and with the support of the National Association of Producers of Pera Rocha and the Interprofessional Horticultural Association of the West. “Water in the West” aims to maximize the efficiency of water resources available in the region, through a set of strategies that increase the amount of water available and stored.
In the session, which took place at the Cine-teatro de Alcobaça João D’Oliva Monteiro, the councilor of the Alcobaça Chamber responsible for Agriculture explained the details of the strategy that will be applied in the municipality. “There are kilometers of water lines, permanent and temporary, which if not properly retained end up being lost to the ocean”, explained Paulo Mateus, who pointed to the work carried out in the Cela irrigation system as an example to follow, in optimizing of water resources for agriculture in the municipality.
The municipal water plan also includes the future irrigation of Maiorga, which will encompass an area of 356 hectares – distributed between territories of the Union of Parishes of Coz, Alpedriz and Montes, of Maiorga and the Union of Parishes of Alcobaça and Vestiaria –, and will have connection to the Cela irrigation system, involving an investment of around 8 million euros. A preliminary study was carried out on this portion of the project, which is already integrated into the national irrigation plan and will benefit 407 farmers.
The irrigation potential of Vale do Baça was also identified, which is in the preliminary study phase. The area covered will be around 1.8 thousand hectares in the parishes of Cela, Bárrio, Vimeiro and Turquel, with 320 beneficiaries. Further south in the municipality, preliminary studies are also being carried out in an area of around a thousand hectares, belonging to the parishes of Alfeizerão and São Martinho do Porto, which could meet the needs of 320 beneficiaries.
Integrated into the municipal water plan is also the recovery of the Fervença Dam. Furthermore, the use of water for reuse (ApR) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) was also one of the solutions presented, as was the use of water from the treatment of organic waste to recharge aquifers or directly for irrigation in the Baça Valley.
Engineer Jorge Froes also intervened in the presentation of the “Water in the West” project, listing solutions such as increasing the recharge of underground aquifers, reducing non-agricultural uses of groundwater, building dams and reservoirs, restructuring and system integration. irrigation, the use of Water for Reuse and desalinated waters and transfers, pointing out as next steps the implementation of the municipal water plan and the maximization of infiltration flows into the aquifers.
The “Water in the West” project is an intervention plan with an eye on the consequences of climate change.
