Finally, Parliament has found time to approve the resolution to connection the agricultural water supply from the Funcho reservoir, to the delight of local Silves farmers.
The Algarve MP, Cristóvão Norte, petitioned the government to authorise the connection of the much needed water supply.
The € 6.5 million project, funded by the European Union and the State budget, was completed in 2016 and just needed the final connection to be turned on to enable water and energy savings for more than 700 Silves farmers.
"It is unbelievable that €6.5 million has been invested and it is not serving anyone," said the PSD Algarve in a statement today.
The new water connection also will increase the irrigation zone from 800 to 1,200 hectares and will ensure better conditions for traditional crops such as citrus fruit. Farmers now can expand their production range and finalise investment plans that have been on hold due to a lack of water.
Before the water connection was authorised, the PSD Algarve said that "it is not enough to proclaim the importance of boosting this primary agricultural sector and diversifying the productive base of the region, it is necessary actually to do something," emphasizing that the situation as it stood, was "a worthless and shameful state investment."
Comments
Oranges only became a commercial crop after the introduction of the noras, deep boreholes in the Barrocal aquifers, and the construction of the dams providing water for publicly financed irrigation systems. Without the highly subsidised prices for agricultural electricity and irrigation water the production of citrus is probably not viable.
Construction of the Odelouca dam was to guarantee water supply for public consumption. Who remembers the water cuts during the last drought in the Algarve? Municipalities had to reopen old boreholes to compensate the lack of supply from the Oudelouca/Funcho/Arade dam system. The opening of new irrigation systems will aggravate the risk water cuts during drought periods.
Will the farmers allow their water supply to be cut off and risk drying of their orange orchards?
The Algarve needs to rethink its agricultural strategy to identify crops that do not need irrigation during the summer months when the demand for public water supply doubles.
Unfortunately, carobs realise very little these days. My neighbour gets only five euros for a huge sackful. Harvesting them is very labour intensive so she does not consider it financially viable.