Yesterday, the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL) announced the proposal to construct two new dams in the region, one on the Foupana river and another on the Alportel river.
With the Algarve region in a drought situation and with water reserves at lower levels than the average of the last decade, AMAL defended the need to build two new water storage areas on river courses in the Algarve, alongside the Association of Beneficiaries of the Sotavento do Algarve Irrigation Plan (ABPRSA).
“For the Algarve municipalities, it is indisputable that the Alportel and Foupana projects will have a significant impact on the region's water storage capacity, and they therefore hope that the two dams will in fact be built, similar to how the irrigation association wants, which was detailed to the mayors by Macário Correia, president of ABPRSA, at the last meeting on January 10th”, said AMAL in a statement.
The Algarve Intermunicipal Community, which represents the 16 municipalities in the Faro district, also highlighted the importance of building these dams for the urban sector, which includes supplying the population, in addition to the “gains for the agricultural sector” that would be produced by increasing the water reserves stored in two new reservoirs.
“In the case of Foupana, for example, it means a reinforcement of the east and west, which could help to lower domestic water tariffs”, argued AMAL.
The Algarve mayors also defended the importance of “making use of the water that flows from the Foupana river”, which they quantified at “around 50 cubic hectometres, according to ABPRSA’s calculations”.
This volume of water represents a “significant increase” in the region’s storage capacity and “would also be important to increase the irrigation perimeter of the sotavento, extending it from Campina de Moncarapacho in Olhão, to Almancil in Loulé”, AMAL maintained.
In this way, “the independence of agricultural activity from an aquifer with great pressure” would be guaranteed and contamination by saline intrusion, which is already occurring in “some points” of the region’s underground reserves, would be avoided.
The Algarve currently has six dams, four in the west region (Arade, Odelouca, Bravura and Funcho) and two in the east region (Odeleite and Beliche).
The Foupana dam rises in the Serra do Caldeirão and runs through the municipalities of Alcoutim and Castro Marim, until it flows into the mouth of the Odeleite river, a tributary of the Guadiana river.
The Alportel river rises in Barranco do Velho, in the municipality of Loulé, and flows into Tavira.
In October 2024, ABPRSA launched a competition for the creation of a multi-purpose dam on the Alportel river, which will allow the protection of the city of Tavira against floods and the hydro-agricultural use in the Algarve's Sotavento region.
The Algarve Sotavento Irrigation Association had already announced, in September 2023, the opening of a competition for the Foupana dam project.
In addition to new dams, there are also plans to build a seawater desalination plant in Albufeira, or capture water from the Guadiana River from Pomarão, projects that are financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
The PRR allocated 200 million euros to measures to combat drought under the Algarve Water Efficiency Plan, which also includes measures such as combating leaks in supply networks, or using treated water to irrigate golf courses.
