APA contests environmentalist data and says Tejo did not have zero flow rate

ANDthe APA submits that the figures submitted do not correspond to the data used to verify compliance with the regime of flows established by the Albufeira Convention.

The proTEJO – Movement for the Tagus and the environmental association ZERO warned, on October 1, that the daily minimum of a cubic hectometer (hm3) agreed between Portugal and Spain was not fulfilled on 14 days of the hydrological year 2025/2026, five of which with zero flow rate.

The organizations based the analysis on data from the National Water Resource Information System (SNIRH) concerning the affluences to the Fratel albufeira between October 1, 2025 and September 28, this year.

The APA counters that the Albufeira Convention defines the Cedillo dam in Spain as a control section for flows from the neighbouring country, and the volumes released there are the reference to assess compliance with Spanish obligations.

According to the agency, the SNIRH data used by environmentalists correspond to affluent flow estimates to the Fratel albufeira, made available in real time and “susceptible to contain temporary failures”, and is subsequently subject to technical validation.

The daily regime establishes a minimum of 1 hm3 per day in Cedillo and, in Belver, already in Portuguese territory, 1.05 hm3/day between May and November and 1.30 hm3/day between December and April.

Despite contesting the reading presented by ProTEJO and ZERO, APA acknowledges that the data received in real time recorded in Cedillo five days with values below 1 hm3/day, four of which above 0.90 hm3.

Also in Belver were recorded five days below the threshold of 1.05 hm3/day, one of which volume was 1.01 hm3.

The agency stresses, however, that no zero flow rate was recorded at Cedillo, Belver or Almourol, with the lowest daily value being 2.5 hm3 in September.

The APA concludes that the available data “do not show any zero flow situation on the Tagus River” in the hydrological year 2025/2026 and argues that the assessment of compliance with the Convention should be made on the basis of the officially defined control sections and validated data.

The APA adds that this was the first year of application of the current daily scheme and that the dealers responsible for the hydraulic infrastructure of the two countries have been alerted to situations of non-compliance or approximation to the established limits.

According to the agency, these situations are accompanied by the Portuguese and Spanish delegations in the framework of the monthly meetings implementing the regime of flows of the Albufeira Convention.

In the position announced last week, Protejo and ZERO demanded the Portuguese Government to recognise the days of zero or lower than the minimum flow and to demand Spain, in the framework of the Commission for the Implementation and Development of the Albufeira Convention (CADC), effective compliance with the daily minimum flow rate.

The two organizations also advocate the replacement of the current system by a system of ecological, continuous and regular flows, considering that the minimum volumes can be released in a concentrated manner without ensuring the necessary regularity for the Tagus ecosystems.