After the initial presentations by Claudia Sil, Researcher at CCMAR, University of Algarve and representative of environmental NGOs on the Algarve CCDR Regional Council; and Nídia Braz, coordinator at the University of Algarve, president of CIVIS, representing the Sustainable Water Platform-PAS; around 40 people participated in the debate organized by the “Mais Algarve” Platform.
“The studies that underlie and support policies and planning, namely the Hydrographic Region Management Plan – PGRH (3rd cycle-2022-2027), the Intermunicipal Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change – PIAAC and the Regional Water Efficiency Plan of Algarve – PREHA, either do not mention desalination or refer to it as the last of the measures to consider studying after the others eventually prove to be insufficient”, says the platform in a statement.
“In addition, in the summary of significant issues relating to water management (QSiGA) identified for the review of the PGRH (3rd cycle-2022-2027), the issue of desalination does not even arise”.
In general, these studies point to proposed adaptation measures that include: reducing water losses in urban supply systems and agricultural irrigation infrastructures; reducing water needs in urban green spaces; implementing water retention techniques that promote artificial recharge of aquifers and self-supply; reusing water from WWTP effluents and reassessing the viability of new dams and promoting their construction.
In particular, PIAAC considers “reassessing the viability of a desalination plant and promoting its construction”, only if the climate scenario turns out to be “more severe and continues to increase the irrigated agricultural area”.
“It is with the PRR that the concrete proposal and its budget emerge, despite the prospective studies that support decision-making. Desalination fell dramatically. Because there is a PRR, a proposal arises that was not foreseen in the structural plans for the region. Something spurious!”, says “Mais Algarve”
“Studies indicate that water loss in urban supplies reaches 25 to 30%, corresponding to values around 30hm3, and in irrigation systems the value is similar. It is also worth considering that restricting the irrigation of public and private green spaces (not including golf courses) corresponds to a saving of 8.8 hm3 (2019)”.
“The effluents from the 17 WWTP with high potential due to their size, proximity to relevant potential users of Water for Reuse (ApR), with adequate treatment levels increase the supply of 20hm3, but according to others, it can reach 40hm3. Furthermore, the WWTP effluents released into natural environments pollute rivers, groundwater, and even beaches, as is the case with the Vilamoura WWTP”, which can be read in the statement.
These values show “the irrelevance of the investment in the Desalination Plant of €54M, according to the PRR, which in practice, considering additional costs such as abduction for ETA and others, will reach another €20 or 30M, to produce 16 hm3, predicted in the project, although in a debate promoted by PAS, it was stated by participants from APA and AdA that production would be only 8 hm3“.
“Desalination has turned the Gulf of Oman into a marine desert. Andalusia, despite the use of desalination, is turning into a desert, as a result of a lack of water caused by an unsustainable agricultural policy”, he recalls.
The capture of water in the area of the Pedra do Valado Marine Natural Park, which constitutes “one of the richest areas in terms of biodiversity nationally and the largest coastal reef in the Algarve, with unique natural values in the context of the Portuguese coast. In particular, the area known as Rocha Baixinha, in front of the beach with the same name or also known as “tomato beach”, is a fishing area in which the capture of water and the discharge of brine will affect plankton and fish farming, in addition to introducing limitations on fishing”.
The “Mais Algarve” Platform considers that “Falésia beach is a much-loved tourism area that serves a whole range of hotels and will be greatly affected by the works to install supply ducts and will cause instability in the cliff”.
The area in which the desalination plant structures will be located, Várzea de Quarteira, has some of the best soil in the Algarve and the country, and is therefore part of the National Agricultural Network – RAN.