Government guarantees 85% funding for flood plan in Faro

O urban flood mitigation plan presented by the House of Faro and budgeted at EUR 15 million will have a cofinancing of 85% of the Sustainable Operational Programme 2030, said today Minister for Environment and Energy.

Maria da Graça Carvalho stressed the importance of the protocol of technical collaboration signed today between the Portuguese Environment Agency and the municipality of Faro, which will allow for progress as soon as possible with the application for funding.

“It is to compete at exactly the first opportunity, because then the works have to be ready by 2028, beginning of 2029, at the latest,” said the governor, during the session held in the Chamber of Faro.

The minister recalled the floods that took place in the area of São Luís, in Faro, on October 29, 2025, “it did exactly yesterday {thursday] a year”, remembering that she immediately combined with the mayor António Pina “find a solution” to the problem.

The Sustainable 2030, a programme dedicated to climate action and sustainability and funded by the Cohesion Fund, will allow “ 85% funding” for the Faro drainage plan, after its reprogramming has included more funds to fight floods, Maria da Graça Carvalho revealed.

The program is already funding works of the Lisbon drainage plan and will ensure support for other projects in flood areas such as Oeiras (Lisbon district), Pombal (Leiria), Águeda (Aveiro) and Albufeira (Faro), specified.

António Pina expressed satisfaction with the certainty of 85% cofinancing, because “if it were not for this aid, it would be impossible for the municipality to move forward to this project and ‘buy’ 15 million euros”, he explained.

The House of Faro will have to face “two million euros, roughly”, but the mayor said he hoped that there would still be the possibility of guaranteeing funding for this 15% share.

Under the protocol signed today, the Portuguese Environment Agency guarantees specialized technical monitoring in the hiring and studies phases, and it is up to the municipality of Faro to prepare and launch the processes for the collection of funds for the projects.

The implementation of the general plan for drainage of rainwaters in Faro, presented on 23 October, will take place in two phases, the first being “technically much more complex”, said on the occasion to journalists the mayor, António Miguel Pina.

“[The plan] consists of a connection from the São Luís area to the Ribeira das Lavateiras and then, in a second phase, also in the treatment of this area of Ribeira das Lavateiras. This is the project. There are, in a first phase, 10 million, in a second phase, another five million”, detailed the mayor.

The second phase, whose project is being completed, will be linked with the project of Alameda 21, which includes the creation of an urban park in the Penha area, next to the Ribeira das Lavateiras, added.

The aim of the plan is to eliminate systematic flooding in the São Luís area, where there are several small businesses that suffer losses frequently, and to help mitigate the problem of water accumulation also in the Penha area.