Government advocates building two dams to fight drought in Viseu

A minister of Environment and Energy today defended the construction of the dams of Fagilde and Girabolhos, whether because Viseu suffers from water stress or because the region supplies a large part of the country, justified.

“The [barrier] of Girabolhos it takes seven years to build. The Viseu region, this whole region, is under water stress. We are praying that it rains, therefore, we cannot risk waiting seven years and increasing the likelihood of having scenes as they had years ago [in 2017] of supply”, said Maria da Graça Carvalho.

“ We are even looking at a solution, in case it is necessary, on a provisional basis, so that we never have to use autotanks as we have done in the past. This area is extremely vulnerable to drought,” he stressed.

The Minister spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the 47-year ceremony at the Polytechnic University of Viseu, which was held at the end of this afternoon, and regarding the fact that university teachers defended the construction of a single dam, or a new one in Fagilde or that of Girabolhos.

The Fagilde dam, on the Dão river, supplies the municipalities of Viseu, Mangualde, Sátão, Penalva do Castelo and Nelas and the project includes a new one about 100 meters downstream of the current one.

A Girabolhos Dam it is designed for the river Mondego, covering the municipalities of Seia and Gouveia, the district of Guarda, and Mangualde and Nelas, the district of Viseu.

The minister also said that the Fagilde dam “is small” and that the government will “give more speed to be ready in 2029”, that is, in three years, “what is different from having one in seven”.

“If I had the Girabolhos Dam ready, I didn’t need Flagilde, but I haven’t”, took over Maria da Graça Carvalho.

The governor also said that “for this year”, among the alternatives for water supply in the region, given the absence of rain, is the “reuse of waste water, especially for the industry” of the region.

“ For urban supply – the forecasts say it is no longer necessary – but we are studying, from the engineering point of view, links to other dams nearby. Provisional, because then we will have Fagilde, but for there to be urban supply near here, or Mondego or other system, is to see what is more economical from the point of view of engineering so that there is no lack of water here ", it has been.

The governor also lamented “that it had not been done any longer” and reinforced that it will have “double the capacity” of the current one and is a lower investment than Girabolhos and therefore “it can be built first and it is absolute priority” and the goal “is to be ready still in this community framework by 2029”.

Asked about the guarantee of supply by the company Águas Douro and Paiva, without the need for the new dam, the ruler said that “without the dam, there would have to be built pipelines that are as expensive or more than the dam and they spend a lot of energy” and this “was studied from a technical point of view”.

A Girabolhos Dam, justified, it is also “very important” for the whole region, “for the production of energy, for the storage of water and energy, to regulate the flow of the [rio] Mondego and it is fundamental for the development of the whole” area.

“ We know it's an area that gives the country a lot of water supply. In the Zêzere and Tejo area, it provides all the great Lisbon and will now start to provide water also to the south bank,” he said, adding more than three million people.

“And then all of Mondego’s food. It is almost two thirds of Portugal that drinks water for the good quality of ecosystems in this region and, therefore, there is a debt from the country to this region,” he said.