Portugal: Range of Circumstances and Region Analysis

 

Introduction

Portugal shares with Spain the Iberian Peninsula, located in the south-western edge of Europe, of which mainland Portugal occupies 15%. Along with France, Italy and Greece, the two Iberian countries form the so-called group of Southern European Countries (SEC) within the European Union (EU). They are sometimes also referred to as the countries of Mediterranean Europe - a classification in which Portugal is included due to issues related to its physical and biophysical unity and continuity with Spain.

The average annual temperature in the SEC oscillates between 10 and 17ºC and is higher than that in the other countries of Europe, whereas average annual precipitation (840 mm) is only slightly above the overall European average (800 mm/year). However, both extremes of the precipitation range in the five SEC occur precisely in the two Iberian countries: the maximum occurs in Portugal, with around 960 mm/year, whereas the minimum (690 mm/year), which is also the minimum for the EU as a whole, applies to Spain.

 

Figure 1. Average annual precipitation in SEC (mm/year)

 

It is worth noting not only the great spatial variations in the precipitation in the Iberian Peninsula (with minima somewhere in the region of 350 mm/year in the driest zones in Portugal and 200 mm/year in Southeast Spain) as also temporal irregularity in terms of its precipitation distribution, with some regions where maximum rainfall in a single day is sometimes not far short of the whole of the precipitation for the year.

The average effective evapotranspiration in any of the SEC (Southern European Countries) is around 450 to 500 mm, with a maximum of 500 mm in Portugal, while the pattern of the behaviour of the average annual run-off is similar to that of the precipitation.

Due to that inequality in water distribution, both in space and time, and to the high evapotranspiration rate, some areas of Portugal such as Sado and Guadiana basins as also Algarve Coastal River Basins are not only currently facing some short-term water shortage problems as well as some long-term ones are also foreseen.

Aiming to analyse those problems framed into a national water resources reality, this report is divided in three sections, correspondent to different subjects: the first section gives an overview of the country water resources, water demands, as also the analysis of the water's institutional framework, the second part aims to characterize the three candidate regions, and, the third part is an overview of the range of circumstances in all 15 River Basins of Portugal Continental territory. In fact, Portuguese territory includes also, in addition to mainland territory, two groups of islands (Azores and Madeira), but on those islands the water resources characterization is still being carried up by means of Regional Water Plans, and water scarcity problems are only foreseen, at this moment, for Porto Santo island (where desalination is employed), in Madeira’s group of islands. We shall then concentrate on mainland territory. Figure 2 presents a map of the correspondent river network and Table 1 a summary of its physical characteristics.

 

Figure 2: Surface waters in mainland Portugal

 

Table 1: Summary of mainland Portugal’s physical characteristics

Background	Description
Climate	The climate in Portugal Continental territory (Mediterranean temperate) is essentially conditioned by its position in relation to the Atlantic Ocean and by the form and positioning of the main mountainous chains. The averaged yearly precipitation in Portugal Continental territory is of about 960 mm, varying from more than 2,000 mm in the northern region to less than 600 mm in Guadiana’s basin. The averaged yearly temperature is about 14 ºC, increasing from north to south and west (littoral) to east (Spain), as well as the average yearly sunshine duration. This ranges through minima of less than 1,800 hours/year in northern regions (Minho and Lima’s basins) to maxima of more than 3,100 hours/year in southern regions (Ribeiras do Algarve basin).
Geomorphology	Mainland Portugal average altitude is about 320 m, but there is an uneven distribution all over the country, with the mountainous northern regions and the more plain meridional regions. The bigger altitudes are recorded in the interior, north and centre, with the maximum value of about 2,000 m occurring in serra da Estrela, in the limit of Mondego and Tejo basins. South of Tejo basin altitudes are of about 200 m with some, few, mountain chains above this value. The coastal area’s altitudes are less than 50 m. Portugal also has an extended coastline.
Geology	On most of the country, soil formations are mainly composed by metamorphic, igneous and volcanic rocks. Some regions (as Tejo and Sado basins and some coastal areas) present tertiary and quaternary deposits with formations mainly composed by limestone and sedimentary rocks.
Ground Water	Most of the country has aquifers of low productivity (on average, 50 m3/day/km2). Higher productivity aquifers occur: in Tejo and Sado basins, with maximum’s of 500 m3/day/km2; in the centre coastal areas, with 400 m3/day/km2; in some spots of Guadiana’s river basin, with 300 m3/day/km2; and, in the south coastal areas, with 200 m3/day/km2. The total available ground water is 6956 hm3/yr.
Surface Water	The total availability in terms of surface water in Portugal Continental territory in an average year (guarantee of 50%) is about 47000 hm3. The international rivers are of great importance as they are the bigger river basins of Iberian Peninsula, with almost 40% of the current total surface water resources of Portugal coming from Spain.
Water storage features	The total water storage capacity in mainland Portugal is 7,830 hm3, with 4,000 hm3 used for the production of hydroelectric power. Due to Alqueva new multipurpose hydraulic plant this water storage capacity will be highly increased, as Alqueva’s useful water storage capacity is 3150 hm3.

 

Overview of the country

Water Demand and Supply Status

In the last years, due to the National Water Plan and to the River Basins Plans elaboration studies, Portugal has been characterising its water resources, in order of which a lot of effort was made to collect and treat all the related information. This way, data on natural resources, water demand and supply is available, recent and complete, although eventually not homogeneous and accurate. In fact, from the analysis of the referred studies:

v      Concerning to water resources characterisation, in quantitative terms, two situations may be distinguished:  the surface water case, of which, due to a good quantitative monitoring network, availability of water is nowadays well defined; and the ground water case, of which the information is not so easy to obtain because of the lack of development of the correspondent network. This last is similar to the situation on water quality characterisation, where information is still lacking due to more complex and expensive procedures.

v      Concerning to water demand and supply, due to the lack of reliable direct information, the data was estimated by using indirect methods to determine the needs and consumption of the various sectors. These indirect methods considered occupied area, number of workers, raw material and products in the case of industry; irrigation areas, crops types, irrigation systems and efficiency in agriculture water use.

In terms of water supply the percentage of population served is currently of 85% in Continental Portugal, this percentage decreasing to 64% referring to wastewater drainage connections, but only 42% benefiting from treatment facilities. However, the National Water Plan (PNA) prospects as some of the main national short-term water priorities that, by 2006, 95% of the total population should be connected to water supply (having drinking water at home) and 90% served with sewerage and wastewater treatment.

The demands and needs in mainland Portugal increase in the dry semester (from May to October) when the water availability is smaller due to the decrease in precipitation and the increase in evapotranspiration losses. This raise in the demands and needs of water is due to agriculture and tourism. Table 2 presents the monthly average precipitation and potential evapotranspiration and figure 3 shows the real yearly evapotranspiration in Continental Portugal.

 

Table 2: Monthly average precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Continental Portugal

Description	Out	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept
Precipitation (mm)	94	121	136	129	122	108	79	67	37	11	13	44
Potential Evapotranspiration (mm)	72	40	29	30	40	69	94	126	151	177	162	112

 

Figure 3: Real Evapotranspiration in Continental Portugal

 

The high agriculture water consumption (about 74% of the total water uses, one of the highest in European Union countries, and still foreseen to increase in the near future) is in fact one of the causes of water shortage problems, competing with other sectors, namely the water supply sector. Aggravating this situation is the low overall efficiency in agriculture water use (less than 60% North of Tejo, about 60% South of Tejo). The increase of these efficiency values is also a short-term water priority, according to the PNA.

Tourism is concentrated on coastal areas (mainly the southern Algarve region), where the population density has been increasing over the last years, some of which currently facing severe water shortages.

There is an intense use of groundwater resources, especially on agriculture (about 65% of this sector water consumptions), which may lead to an over-exploitation of the aquifers, with effects on water quality on coastal areas due to saline intrusion. Urban water supply overall losses are another problem as they are currently very high, about 33%. The decrease of these values is another of the short-term water priorities prospected by the National Water Plan.

Almost 40% of the current surface water resources in mainland Portugal come from Spain, which account for the importance of water quality in the international river basins, of inter basin water transfers and of agriculture water consumption downstream effects.

Tables 3 and 4 present, respectively, the available resources  (surface water and groundwater) and the water consumption for each sector, per river basin, in Portugal Continental territory.

 

Table 3: Available Resources

River Basin	Stable Water Resources (hm3)
	Surface Water *	Exploitable Groundwater	Total
Minho	8465	80	8545
Lima	3065	149	3214
Cávado	2099	161	2260
Ave	1048	139	1187
Leça	94	22	116
Douro	17841	773	18614
Vouga	1732	404	2136
Mondego	3430	578	4008
Lis	225	224	449
Ribeiras do Oeste	267	208	475
Tejo	14021	2667	16688
Sado	918	796	1714
Mira	291	53	344
Guadiana	3156	429	3585
Ribeiras do Algarve	327	272	599
Mainland Portugal	56979	6956	63935

* Regularized flow (including affluences from Spain)

 

 Table 4: Water consumption

            ⁽¹⁾ Surface water

 

Environment and protection

Several conflicts arise due to the quality of water for the several uses. There is a weak treatment capacity of the polluted charges, namely the ones produced by urban and industrial water supply. The pressure is higher in the coastal areas, where population is concentrated, thus the quality of surface waters on those areas is not, currently, for most of the rivers, as good as of upstream stretches, except on some bordering areas. On figure 4 it can be seen the loads affluent to the hydric environment in Portugal Continental territory. Urban wastewaters are responsible for more than 57% of these pollutant loads.

 

Figure 4: Loads affluent to the hydric medium in Portugal Continental territory

 

Major water quality problems occur on the shared rivers bordering stretches, where the quality of surface waters is inadequate, according to legislation, similarly to some downstream stretches and to almost all coastal areas, with values of pollutant loads exceeding the recommended for human consumption. Another problem is that mainly in the south of Portugal, water levels decrease significantly in the summer, in some rivers, creating higher concentrations of pollutants. As to coastal waters the quality is generally good, with some spots of fair and poor quality, as Porto’s metropolitan area.

Due to the insufficient monitoring network the only data available in terms of quality of groundwater relates to the water consumption’s most important aquifers.  Although nitrates pollution can occur in superficial water and in groundwater, the higher values occur in the last one, as a consequence of the intensive use of fertilisers in agriculture. Figure 5 shows the most important aquifers in mainland Portugal, as well as the quality of ground water for domestic water and irrigation water purposes. As can be seen in the monitored aquifers the quality is in overall good, with the exception of Algarve’s region and some areas of Mondego, Tejo and Guadiana’s basins. Due to the over-exploitation of certain aquifers there is the risk of saline intrusion, which is already happening in some areas of Algarve and Vouga (Aveiro’s region).

Concerning to shortages of water it shall be referred that drought situations occur in Portugal mainly in the North interior (bordering) regions (Douro basin) and especially on the South (of the Tejo river). Nevertheless, in terms of guarantee of water supply to populations in periods of water shortage, problems are centred mainly in the southern region. On that zone, due to small Portuguese storage capacity (currently about 42% of the river basin internal natural water resources for the Tejo - the highest value on Portugal - and 18% for the Guadiana, which compares to about 200% for this river’s Spanish case), an inevitable mismatch of water availability and water needs has been specially visible on dry years, leading to shortages of water and to full utilisation of existing regulating structures.

 

Figure 5: Quality in ground waters for different sector uses

 

Water laws and regulations

Portuguese water laws and regulations are framed under the respect of International Law, bilateral Portuguese-Spanish shared river agreements and of European Union Water policy and Directives, to which evolution and inter-relation (in some cases still) has to be adapted.

The main aim of the Portuguese-Spanish still active bilateral international rivers Conventions (dating to 1964 and 1968) was to rule the share of water and hydroelectric potential production of bordering river stretches. The 1998 “Convention on Cooperation for Portuguese-Spanish River Basins Protection and Sustainable Use” envisages to co-ordinate efforts on shared river basins management, aiming to attain improved risk prevention and ecosystem protection on those basins, respecting modern principles of international law. That Convention is clearly framed (Maia, 1999) by the UN 1991 Espoo Convention, the UN 1992 Helsinki Convention  – both of them ratified by the EU and, therefore, with principles that any EU member can apply to -, and not only by (the time) active EU Directives but also by the principles of the 2000 approved Water Framework Directive. Furthermore, and although not yet active, the UN 1997 approved “Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses” can also be considered a reference Law.

The Portuguese legislation (still) excludes from the hydro public domain groundwater and surface private water, relating to principles dating back to 1919 (Water Law) and 1966 (Civil Code). The juridical regime on the utilisation of the hydro domain was revised and reviewed in 1994, together with a new institutional framework definition. Since then Portuguese water management model is founded on shared responsibilities between a National Water Institute (INAG) and the Regional Environmental and Territorial Planning Administrations (DRAOT’s[1]), both firstly under the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources, which later turned into Ministry of Environment and of Land-Use Planning (MAOT) - and in the 2nd semester of 2002 into Ministry of the Cities, Environment and Land-Use Planning (MCOTA). That was due to a set of diplomas:

v      Decree-law nº 45/94 of 22 February 1994, which regulates the water resource planning process and the drafting and approval of water resource plans.

v      Decree-law nº 46/94 of 22 February 1994, which establishes the licensing regime for water use under the jurisdiction of INAG.

v      Decree-law nº 47/94 of 22 February 1994, which establishes the economic and financial regime on public water under the jurisdiction of INAG.

These legislation principles and institutional organisation entail on the 1997 Environmental Basis Law principles (Law 11/87, EBL), by which (i) it was already stated that a national co-ordination of environmental and land-use territory policies should occur (which in fact came to occur formally in 1999, with the creation of MAOT) and the river basin was stated as the water resources management unit.

More broadly, the national Portuguese legal framework may be described as based on three different areas: juridical instruments for water protection, juridical framework for administrative procedures and administrative institutions. The two last will be described further when referring to institutional organisation and constraints. Concerning to the juridical water protection main regulations one may distinguish:

1.         Direct ruling

v      Water Quality Norms: (i) General: DL 236/98 and (ii) Special (e.g., dangerous substances discharges, for activity sectors, etc.)

v      Water Quality Zones, p.e., by Protected Areas Definition and River Basin Plans (RBP) definition.

v      Water Resources licensing, as referred reporting to DL 46/94, based on a methodology of licence of the use and not of the economic activity, but these obliged to environmental impact assessment (DL 69/2000 or DL 194/2000)

2.         Indirect ruling

v      Financial and fiscal instruments, as referred reporting to DL 47/94, but very ineffective

v      Planning instruments: (i) National Environment Policy Planning and the Conservation of Nature National Strategy (defined by EBL), (ii) RBP and National Water Plan definitions (as defined by DL 45/94) and (iii) Special Planning Instruments (p.e., DL 236/98, on: action for reduction of pollution of internal fishing water and of coastal waters; on quality improvement on bathing waters; on plans for water irrigation; and, on reduction of dangerous substances).

Concerning to water supply and drainage systems, the Portuguese system was long developed based on regional administrative boards, i. e., municipality boards, usually via municipal water companies with management directly controlled and ruled by the municipality. Following a change on the legal framework in 1993, by which not only multi-municipal systems were promoted (and five created by Dec-Law 379/93) as also private capital access to economic water supply and drainage activities was open (Dec-Law 379/93), and after definition in 1994 (Dec-Law 319/94) of the concession regime basis for those systems, several municipal and pluri-municipal were created and/or explored on a concession basis – the last mostly by public owned companies ruled under private law rules and the former (operating on that basis) more open to private capital and  management. In 1998 (Dec-Law 58/98) the municipalities were allowed also to create autonomous (and with their own capital) urban water/drainage companies.

 

Institutional Framework and constraints

As previously referred, the current institutional water management model is founded on the sharing of the management of domestic water resources between two institutions under the Ministry of the Cities, Land-Use Planning and Environment (MCOTA, former MAOT, Ministry of Land-Use Planning and Environment) - INAG (national) and the DRAOT’s[2] (regional). These last correspond to rename (when MAOT was created, in 1999) the former Regional Environmental and Natural Resource Administrations (DRARN’s) created in 1993, with district boundaries defined in accordance with the remits of the administrative Local Coordination Commissions (CCR’s) and with no correspondence with the river basin areas (figure 6). Five DRAOT’s do exist (Northern, Central, Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Alentejo, and the Algarve), causing that in some instances the management of a river basin’ water resources is due to more than one Regional Board.

Table 5 shows the hierarchical institutional responsibility distribution not only between the referred and other MCOTA Administrations but also for other relevant water policy Administrations dependent of other Ministries.

 

Figure 6. Maps of River Basins (A) and DRAOT’s (B)

 

It becomes visible that although the relevant role of INAG, it is not possible, in a legal sense, to name a true water authority in Portugal - and that is reflected on the water legislation framework and application (Aires, 2001):

v      Decree-law nº 45/94 - by which not only the now MCOTA Table 5’s referred institutions as also the National Water Council and the River Basin Councils were created with defined responsibilities - made INAG responsible by drafting the River Basin Plans (PBH’s) for the International Rivers as well as the National Water Plan (PNA) and defined as the 5 Regional Boards task drafting the River Basin Plans for the national rivers, according to their area of jurisdiction. Drafting of the PBH’s did start only late 1997 and was completed October 2000 (for the international basins) and February 2001 (for the national basins).  The National Water Plan was completed in August 2001.

v      Decree-law nº 46/94 ruled the licensing regime for water use but in fact effective licensing did not effectively occur, which may be regarded as one of the major flaws of the current water resource management system in that the Regional Boards, have failed to secure the registration, cadastral survey and licensing of all water occupations and uses. This led to gaps in basic information which namely had consequences and constrained PBH’s drafting and that will have repercussions in the implementation of Directive IPPC on integrated pollution prevention and control.

v      Decree-law nº 47/94 ruled the economic and financial regime on public water, aiming to ease the financial burden on the water management institutions, but was mismanaged in its application due to the wrong (political) implementation timing and also because it was intended to encompass all users instead of focusing on the more important and significant uses.

 

Table 5. Responsible Authorities in the Water Sector

Agency /Authority	Responsibilities
Ministry of Cities, of Land-use Planning and Environment (MCOTA)	To define, co-ordinate and execute environmental policy and territory ruling, namely:  a) To manage on a global and integrated form national water resources in order to achieve a temporal balance between water availability and demand and to control pollution, safeguarding hydric environment. b) To guarantee integrated and sustained coastal management, namely based on different institutions, as INAG, DRAOT, DGA and ICN.
INAG	Responsible by the prosecution of national policies on water resources and water supply and drainage, namely. -          To develop information systems on national water availability and needs -          To promote an integrated planning on a river basin basis as also of the littoral -          To promote conservation of national water resources on quantity and quality, etc.
DRAOT (now CCDR )	Promote and execute at regional level the environmental and territory ruling policy
DGA	Co-ordination, study, planning and inspection of environment and natural resources sectors
ICN	Nature Conservation, national coordination
Ministry of Agriculture, of Rural Development and Fishing  (MADRP)	Some of its attributions interfere with water resources
IDHRa	To develop information systems on water needs and current utilisation of water resources in agriculture To support water resources conservation and use and hydro-infrastructure development on agriculture
DGF	To co-ordinate and support the execution of the policy on fishing river basin internal resources
Ministry of Economy (ME)	Responsible by national energy industry development
DGE	Responsible by the conception, execution and assessment of national energy sector policy, aiming to use national resources.
Ministry of Health (MS)	Competencies on public health with implications on water resources

 

Coastal management duties are currently assigned to INAG (although its organic law does not contemplate any Services Directorate or even a Division exclusively dedicated to coastline issues), with all the mainland coastline being into its jurisdiction, except for the port areas (under the jurisdiction of Port Local Boards) and the areas of special interest for nature protection and conservation, which were assigned to the Nature Conservation Institute (ICN). The Coastline Planning Schemes (POOC’s) drawn up by INAG and ICN have seen their integration goal hindered and truncated because the port zones were excluded, as they did not come under the same Ministry. Also all the estuaries are under the jurisdiction of port entities that manage vast areas, aiming to account for large expansion plans and the need for maintenance of navigation channels. The Water Framework Directive, with its integrating approach and vision, now entails that both the transition and coastal waters are managed in conjunction with the whole of the river basin area, which will force an adjustment to the present institutional model.

Concerning to water supply and residual water, and following a 1993 legislation framework change, as already referred, there was a relevant last decade development of private and (mainly) public water industry, based on a concession contract. The scope of the concession on water supply and drainage systems is to substitute municipal responsibilities in what concerns abstraction, treatment and distribution of urban water and to collect and treat water effluents, and this may imply construction, repair and maintenance of the systems. Currently, (mostly primary) water supply for 70% of the population and also of 60% for (main) wastewater drainage and treatment systems is of responsibility of “Águas de Portugal Group”, an holding company (with major public capital, under private right statutory rules) ruling , by mid 2002, over 12 companies with concession on multi-municipal main water supply/drainage systems and 7 companies (plus 3 with no major participation) with concession on municipal secondary (domestic) water supply/drainage systems – this adding to its’ 14 companies (of which 13 with major participation) with concession on municipal urban solid waste. The full private concession systems are still only a few and mostly operating on municipal concession of urban water supply/wastewater drainage and treatment secondary (domestic) network systems, whereas the majority of these systems is currently managed and operated directly by municipalities and/or municipal companies. A specific regulator institution (IRAR) was created in 1998 (DL 326/98), with the purpose of ruling over multi-municipal and municipal concession explored urban water supply, residual water and solid waste systems, in order to protect and safeguard citizen interests and rights.

Concerning to Public Consultative Bodies on water issues, one shall emphasise:

v      The National Water Council (CNA), created by Article 9 of Decree-Law nº 45/94 of 22 February 1994 and presided over by the Minister for the Environment and Land-Use Planning, is a national planning advisory body on which the Public Administration as well as the most representative professional and economic bodies concerned with the various uses of water are represented, and is aimed to deliver expert opinions to support decision-making, as well as to inform the relevant Plans (as in the case of the PBH’s for international rivers). It is also its task to oversee the drafting of the National Water Plan and inform the proposal thereof before its approval.

v      The River Councils (RC), created by Article 11 of Decree-law nº 45/94 of 22 February 1994, on which are represented both the Public Administration and the users, are entrusted with overseeing the drafting of the River Basin Plans and with informing such plans, as well as rule on, and promote, actions in respect of a number of issues relating to water resource management within each river basin.

Apart from the participation of elements representing agricultural irrigation associations and sector of activity’s end users on RC’s, in addition to NGO’s (on both CNA and RC), the populations do not have real formal participation on water resources issues.

As referred before, Table 5 shows also some Ministry’s (other than MCOTA) involved on water (or related) policy issues. Some of that involvement is also related (or responsible) by constraints facing the water sector, enhancing natural, human technical and financial constraints (Table 6).

 

Table 6.  Constraints facing Portuguese water resources

Category	Constraints
Natural	Uneven spatial and temporal water resources distribution Large dependence on transboundary water
Human	Uneven population distribution (located mainly on coastal areas) Tourism pressure on coastal areas Agricultural water use largely dominant Demand peaks on the dry season Lack of environmental awareness
Technical	Old agriculture infrastructure Lack of proper irrigation techniques Large water supply network losses
Juridical	Lack of enforcement of water and environmental laws (which, very often, are ineffective) Juridical system deficiencies (no clear “rules of game”; overlapped and no co-ordinated institutional responsibilities) No clear basis on water quality rules definition No legal framework for multi-purpose hydraulic plants  No actual national Water Law
Financial	Non-effective economic and financial regime (leading to poor financial resources for water authorities) Pricing of water is (namely in agriculture) distorted and largely subsidised Insufficient data for costs characterisation
Administrative and institutional	Management of water resources not made on a River Basin basis No real National Water Authority Need to articulate different water management entities (e.g., for multi-purpose hydraulic plants) Incipient participation of Civil Society Insufficient law monitoring and enforcement Insufficient administrative human resources

 

Management, institutional and policy options

As already referred, the Portuguese water administrative regions do not actually coincide with the river basins, although water resources’ planning is made (by law, since 1994) on a river basin basis.  Nevertheless, that is due to change shortly under the current re-structure of the Portuguese institutional framework system. Meanwhile, a National Water Plan and the 15 Continental River Basin Plans were approved in 2001, already taking into account Water Framework Directive compliance needs. In order to that, Portugal shall create River Basin Districts and Administrations and that is already foreseen by the “Lei da Água” (National Water Law) proposal presented last 22 of March, taking into account Spanish reality for the case of the shared river basins. In fact not only the adequacy and compliance with European Union Water policy are pushing to internal development of the country own water reform policy and institutions, but also that shall respect and profit from a bilateral (with Spain) co-operation tradition and agreements, namely the “Convention on Co-operation for Protection and Sustainable Use of Portuguese-Spanish River Basins”, active since January 2000.

The Portuguese National Water Plan (approved by the end of 2001), other than deciding eventual inter-basin water transfers and co-ordinate planning actions with Spain, is aimed to co-relate and co-ordinate the River Basin Plans measures and actions. The fundamental articulation between those Plans is made through general and specific measures, in order to achieve short, mean and long term (from 2006 to 2020) quantitative and qualitative goals on water resources different domains and issues. The different problems and causes were identified by the PNA as also an aimed set of measures and actions, as referred on Tables 7 to 13, each of which relating to one of seven action axis.

 

Table 7. PNA’s Legal and Institutional Framework action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types[3]
Implementation of the New Portuguese-Spanish Convention	Portuguese-Spanish shared river basins	- Definition of bilateral joint measures - Definition of environmental flows - Definition of estuaries management measures - Water monitoring of international river stretches	P; External Relations   P; External Relations   P; P&P; External Relations P&P; External Relations
Legal and Institutional Framework adequacy	Legal Framework adequacy	- Elaboration of the “Water Law” - Compilation of Water legislation - Establishment of a coastal waters’ legal framework - Implementation of a integrated system for cadastral and licensed use	L&I   L&I   L&I     L&I; P&P
	Administrative Reinforcement	- Adequate Administration to the implementation of RBP - Promote and educate human resources on water resources management	L&I; P; E&F     P&P
	Identify and create River Basin Districts and Administrations		P; L&I; E&F

 

Table 8. PNA’s Environmental Sustainability action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Protection, Rehabilitation and Promotion of water resources quality	Control of quality of all types of water	- Classification and control of surface water/groundwater, according to different uses - Elaboration of Plans of action to achieve aimed quality - Establishment of discharge rules function of receiving water quality goals	P&P         P     P; L&I
	Assessment and control pollution sources	- Elaboration of Plans of action to improve quality of water on sensible or degraded water or riparian areas - Delimitation of protection areas to surface/groundwater abstractions due to dangerous substances - Assessment and control of discharges of polluting discharges - Promote application of Good Agriculture Code Practise	L&I         P&P         P&P     P&P
	Protection of origins of water for water consumption	- Elaboration of an intervention plan for each drainage basin - Delimitation of protection areas to surface and groundwater for water consumption	P     P&P
	Minimization of drought effects	- Establishment of a methodology (i) to characterise drought periods (ii) to manage water resources on drought - Elaboration of a Contingency Plan for drought periods	P   P   P&P; L&I
	Minimization of pollution accidents	- Elaboration of Emergency Plans for accidental pollution cases	P&P; L&I
Reduction and Control of Topic Pollution	Urban and industrial drainage and treatment wastewater systems	- Construction or rehabilitation of small urban centre systems - Promotion and creation of pluri-municipal systems	P&P; E&F     P&P; L&I
Environmental and Biologic Conservation	Environmental Flows (E. F.)	- Study of E.F. regimes  - Adequate hydraulic plants to guarantee permanent E.F.	P P&P; E&F
	Ecosystem conservation and rehabilitation	- Assessment of environmental risks - Management and recuperation of fluvial ecosystem	P   P; P&P; E&F

 

Table 9. PNA’s Sustainable Demand Management action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Guarantee of water supply for human use and for activity sectors	Domestic and industrial supply	- Promotion and creation of pluri-municipal systems - Increase of level of water supply guarantee, by creation of reserves - Construction and rehabilitation of infra-structure	P&P; E&F     P&P; E&F       P&P; E&F
	Irrigation	- Increase of level of water supply guarantee, by creation of reserves - Construction and rehabilitation of infra-structure	P&P; E&F       P&P; E&F
Conservation of water resources	Efficiency on use of water: domestic and industrial supply	- Promotion of efficient use of water - Identification and reduction of systems’ water losses and of non-accountable consumption	P&P   P&P
	Efficiency on use of water for irrigation	- Identification and reduction of systems’ water losses and more rational use of water	P&P

 

Table 10.  PNA’s Integrated Management of Water Resources action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Valorisation of Hydro Domain	Recreation and leisure	- Elaboration of plans for fluvial beaches (f. b.) - Creation of f. b.	P   P&P
	Fluvial navigation	- Development of commercial navigation	P; P&P; E&F
	Sediment	- Elaboration of plans for river sediment extraction	P
	Other uses	- Wastewater reuse	P; L&I; P&P
Planning and Management of Hydro Domain	Hydro domain Planning	- Classification of river network - Hydro domain delimitation criteria and definition - Main Estuaries and lagoons integrated management plans	P   P; L&I     P; L&I
	Floods Prevention and Minimisation	- Elaboration of flood zoning maps - Elaboration of Emergency Flood Contingency Plans - Execution of Non-structural flood defence measures	P&P   P; L&I     P&P
	Conservation of fluvial network systems	-  Re-naturalisation of river channels and banks	P&P

 

Table 11.  PNA’s Economic and Financial Sustainability action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Promotion and Consolidation of Water Market		- Assessment of fiscal instruments - Definition of financing models - Analysis of adequacy of management entities to the water market	E&F               E&F   E&F
Economic and financial regime application	User-pay principle	- Implementation of the principles of user-pay and polluter-pay principles - Revision and application of E&F regime to public hydro domain - Studies on water pricing - Establishment of a water pricing policy - Definition of E&F regime applicable to (i ) domestic water supply and (ii) irrigation systems	P&P; E&F       E&F; L&I       E&F   P; E&F   L&I
	Cost of water	- Assessment of all costs to be internalised - Assessment of real costs of the systems - Establishment of “rough water” price - Studies for fixing taxes and tariffs	E&F; P&P   E&F;P&P   E&F   E&F; P

 

Table 12. PNA’s Citizen Information and Participation action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Divulgation and Awareness		- Campaign to increase awareness on water issues - Formation and information on water resources environmental sustainability	P&P     P&P
Promotion and Users Participation		- Environmental water issues education	P&P

 

Table 13. PNA’s Knowledge, Study and Applied Research on Water Resources action axis

Program	Measures	Main Interventions	Types (See Table 7)
Monitoring and Information Systems	Monitoring systems	- Improve monitoring of: (i) surface water (ii) groundwater - Ecological and biological monitoring network - Sediment transport monitoring network - Implantation of climate network - Coordinated coastal monitoring system	P&P P; P&P P; P&P     P; P&P   P; P&P   P&P
	Cadastral, information systems and GIS	- Urban water supply and wastewater infrastructure (i) cadastral system (ii) quality control system - Creation of a system to support water resources management - Maintain and explore an effective water resources information system	P&P   P&P   P; P&P     P&P
Studies and Investigation		- Development of hydrological and hydraulic studies - Development of DSS on economic water use - Characterization and assessment of fluvial, estuarine and coastal ecosystems	P&P     P; P&P   P; P&P
Assessment of  National Water Plan (PNA) and River Basin Plans (RBP’s)		- Systematic assessment of the Plans - Control of Plans application	P&P   P&P

 

The National Water Plan prospects as main national short term water priorities:

v      In domestic water supply, in 2006 95% of the total population should be able to have drinking water at home; currently, that percentage is of 85%.

v      In relation to wastewater, in 2006 there must be 90% of the total population served with sewerage and treatment; nowadays the percentage of population served with residual water drainage is of 64%, with only 42% covered by treatment facilities.

v      Development of new irrigation areas, namely the ones predicted due to Alqueva new multi-purpose hydraulic plant in construction.

v      An increase of the agriculture water use overall efficiency (currently still with values on a 40 to 50% range on most of the traditional irrigation processes regions) and a decrease on urban water supply overall losses (currently 33%).

v      To achieve a national wide water monitoring automatic network, in order to monitor and control, namely water quality.

v      To achieve Water Directive Framework scheduled actions and aims.

 

Conclusions

Some major problems and constraints should be emphasised, distinguishing different water related issues and conflicts of use:

v      Several bilateral real (or eventual) conflicts due to Portugal and Spain shared rivers and related water issues, namely: (i) management of extreme hydrologic situations; (ii) establishment of environmental flow regime for different guarantee levels (humid, normal, dry and very dry years); water quality control; inter basin water transfers; water pricing policy and water prices differences.

v      Intense use of groundwater resources, namely on agriculture (accounting for 65% of this sector water consumptions), leading to an over-exploitation of the aquifers, with effects on water quality on coastal areas due to saline intrusion.

v      High agriculture water consumption (currently more than ¾ of all consumption and still foreseen to increase in the near future), competing for the use of freshwater with the water supply sector.

v      Irrigation water prices strongly subsidised and distorted, but (according to EU policy) tending to reflect real cost – and this will cause conflicts on a “real water price” policy implementation on different regions and between sectors.

v      Tourism concentrated mostly on south coastal region where (i) there is often (mostly on dry semester) a water resources shortage, (ii) as well as deficiencies on water supply and (iii) competition between different sector (urban and agriculture) uses.

v      Water abstractions quality and polluted discharges control needing to be truly improved, with measures involving all sector uses as also as a true improvement of the (still) weak overall effective national wastewater treatment capability and coverage.

v      Priority of uses and environmental needs, namely on water scarcity periods, which need to be defined and considered on water shortage contingency plans (due to be elaborated) and be taken into account, namely on various (although quantitatively small) internal inter-basin water transfers due to different sector water uses and interests.

v      Water and Environmental laws, which are currently ineffective due to (i) juridical deficiencies, (ii) different institutions with overlapped and/or no co-ordinated responsibilities, (iii) inexistence of legal framework (e.g., on multiple uses plants) and (iv) to the current no-existence of a Water Law.

v      Water resources management, which is currently (still) not made on a river basin basis and needs to be effectively improved by means of the implementation of the recently active River Basin Plans, making it necessary (i) to adequate the Water Administration to that aim and (ii) to identify and create River Basin Districts and Administrations.

 

Selection of representative regions

Figure 7 presents Thornthwaite’s aridity indices in the different river basins of mainland Portugal. According to it, three regions may be considered (see figure 6 for river basins): a first one, north of Tejo, which can be considered humid, as precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration; a second one, sub-humid, in Douro’s interior, and in some areas south of Tejo; and, a third one, arid, in Guadiana’s basin, part of Sado’s basin and Algarve region, where the ratio between precipitation and evapotranspiration is less than 0.5 (see figure 3).

 

Figure 7: Thornthwaite’s aridity index in mainland Portugal

 

As can be seen in figure 8 the basins that are currently facing water scarcity problems, with the hydric balance not enabling to guarantee water supply for different sector uses, monthly and annually, are the ones located in the arid and sub-humid regions. That figure refers some of those basins coastal areas as having not been covered by the evaluation study. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that those areas have no problems; on the contrary, those problems may be enhanced by that littoral position, not only because the population and/or industry is mainly located there as also due to tourism (mainly in Algarve regions).

 

Figure 8: Scarcity of water situations. Superficial waters

 

Thus the three regions selected to be candidate regions are Sado, Guadiana and Ribeiras do Algarve basins, as shown in figure 9. The main reasons for these three River Basins’ water scarcity current situation are:

v      In the case of Sado, the main problems are related with the demands of water for irrigation (due to which Sado is the Portuguese river basin with the biggest storage capacity compared to annual mean flow) and for industry (mainly Sines’ industry on the coast), and also with the demands of water for energy consumption (mainly due to cooling in thermo-electric power plants).

v      As to Guadiana’s, the water deficit is due to the demands of water for irrigation, to the poor quality of the water available for the various uses and to Spanish flow regularization on summer/driest periods.

v      In the case of Ribeiras do Algarve, because all the region attracts a large number of tourists, especially in the dry semester and there is also a lot of pressure due to irrigation water uses. The increase in the water demand in the summer period leads to the point that the demand cannot be covered by existing infrastructure and water storage, although currently there is already an inter basin water transfer from Guadiana’s basin (for irrigation and domestic water supply uses).

 

Figure 9: The Candidate Regions selected

 

These three regions will now be characterized as to their respective sets of circumstances, affecting water resources and management, based, basically on data of the National Water Plan, complemented by data of the correspondent PBH of these regions.

The only available data in terms of average household income relates to 2000 and is made by great planning regions, thus joining namely Sado and Guadiana basins in the same area (Alentejo). The same correspondent value is then considered for those two basins (13562 €/year).

Referring to the pricing system, the cost recovery and price elasticity will relate to the urban sector, looking for that main sector characterisation and also due to the lack of reliable data for the other sectors of activity.

Concerning to “Water Resources Management”, the characterisation was done in “overall terms” and taking into account IRAR regulating (envisaged) authority and municipal responsibilities.

 

Sado

Sado’s river basin has an area of 8295 km2 and its population is 292960 inhabitants (1998), with a population density of about 35 inhabitants per km2, a low value when compared to Portugal Continental territory value of 110 inhabitants per km2. The region is mostly plain, except to some low mountains, with an overall average altitude of 127 m. In fact, the altitudes range from 50 m to 200 m in most of the area, with a maximum basin altitude of 501 m. Most of the area presents tertiary and quaternary deposits with formations mainly composed by limestone and sedimentary rocks.

The climate is Mediterranean temperate, with rainy winters and dry summers. The average temperature is of 16 ºC, and in the summer peak months (July and August), it varies from 19 ºC in the coastal areas to 24 ºC in the interior. In the coldest month (January) it varies from 9 ºC in the interior to 12 ºC in the coastal areas. The average annual sunshine duration is about 2900 hours. The average annual precipitation is 622 mm, ranging from less than 600 mm in the coastal areas to more than 900 mm on the mountains.  About 78% of the precipitation is concentrated in the humid semester (between October and March) and occurs 75-100 days per year in the coastal areas and 50-75 days per year in the rest of the basin. As to potential evapotranspiration its yearly average is 1145 mm and it increases in the dry semester. Figure 10 presents the mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Sado’s basin. The total average runoff is 972 hm3/year.

Sado has a storage capacity of 771 hm3 which makes it the Portuguese river basin with the biggest storage capacity when compared to annual mean flow, and that reflects irrigation availability needs. The overall availability is currently, in average, of 1618 hm3/year, consisting of 822 hm3 of surface water (182 hm3/year in dry years) and 796 hm3 of renewable groundwater. However there will be a big increase in the availability of surface water due to the foreseen inter basin water transfer of about 450 hm3/year from Guadiana’s basin when Alqueva new multi-purpose hydraulic plant (still in construction) will be operating.

Surface waters are considered inadequate to the various uses, according to the national legislation, due to its poor quality, with pollutants loads exceeding the recommended values. In terms of groundwater, in the monitored aquifers the quality is good. As to coastal waters the quality is also good, with the exception of one or two polluted spots.

 

Figure 10: Mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Sado’s basin

 

Industry, animal husbandry and non-point source loading from agriculture are the responsible for the majority of the pollutant loads verified in Sado. The main pollutant loads produced in Sado´s basin in 1998 were estimated as:

v      BOD5 = 22461 ton/year

v      TSS = 45281 ton/year

v      COD = 42807 ton/year

v      Total nitrogen = 5070 ton/year

v      Total phosphorus = 1361 ton/year

The percentage of population served with water supply is currently of 97%, higher than the value correspondent to wastewater drainage  (87%), with only 56% benefiting of treatment facilities. Urban water supply overall losses are currently high (average of 20%), and there is a low overall efficiency in agriculture water use (about 60%). The total annual water consumption is 1195 hm³ (600 hm³ returning back to the hydric environment), distributed as follows: 672 hm³ of water are used in energy production to the cooling in thermo-electric power plants, 440 hm³ in agriculture, 58 hm³ in industry (mainly Sines’ industry on the coast), and about 24 hm³ in domestic uses, with the water uses in tourism less than 1 hm³. The percentage distribution of water uses per sector can be seen in figure 11, whereas the percentage of the total water use in Sado’s basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory can be seen in figure 12.

 

Figure 11: Water uses in Sado’s basin

Figure 12: Percentage of the total water use in Sado’s basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory

 

The average household income in 2000 was 13562 €/year, with only 0.75% of this value allocated to domestic water supply, which indicates a low water pricing (0,57 €/m³) and a low urban water sector cost recovery (37%). This situation is much aggravated in agricultural sector, with prices very low (0,06 €/m³) and strongly subsidised.

There is no inter-municipal primary urban water supply system covering the basin. The (secondary) water supply distribution networks are mostly 100% (except one system, partly owned by Águas de Portugal group) of full municipal responsibility, and similar situation is due to wastewater drainage and treatment systems. Thus the pricing of water is mostly a political issue and not currently aiming cost recovery.

 

Table 14: Sado matrix

Natural conditions and infrastructure	Regional Context	Climate Type	Cs: Mediterranean Temperate
		Aridity Index	AI =0.54 Dry Sub-humid
		Permanent Population	292960
		Area (km2)	8295
	Water availability	Total Water Resources/ Availability (hm3)	1630/1618
		Trans-boundary water	No
	Water quality	Quality of surface water	Low
		Quality of groundwater	Good
		Quality of coastal water	Good
	Water Supply	Percentage of supply coming from: ·         Groundwater ·         Surface water ·         Desalination, Recycling ·         Importing	16% 84% - -
		Network coverage: ·         Domestic ·         Irrigation ·         Sewerage	97% 72% 87%
Economic and Social System	Water use	Water consumption by category: ·         Domestic ·         Tourism ·         Irrigation ·         Industrial and energy production	2.03% 0.05% 36.87% 61.05%
		Resources to population index (m3/person/year)	5564
	Water demand	Water Demand trends	Increasing
		Consumption index	73.3%
		Exploitation index	69.7%
	Pricing system	Average household budget for domestic water	0.75%
		Average household budget for agricultural water	0,06 €/m3
		Average household income	13562 €/year
		Cost recovery	Low
		Price elasticity	Low
	Social capacity building	Public participation in decisions	Bad
		Public education on water conservation issues	Low
Decision Making Process	Water Resources Management	Water ownership	Public (partly private)
		Decision making level (municipal, regional, national) regarding: Water supply for each sector	National/Municipal
		Water resources allocation for each sector	National
	Water Policy	Local economy basis	Agriculture and industry
		Development priorities	Agriculture

 

Guadiana^[4]

Guadiana’s river basin covers an area of 11601 km² and its population is 182580 inhabitants (1998), with a population density of about 16 inhabitants per km², almost the lowest value for all Portuguese river basins. The average altitude is 237 m, most of the region with altitudes that range from 100 m to 400 m, with a southern mountain chain (making the division between Alentejo and Algarve) where the maximum altitude occurs (1027 m). The slopes are mainly of 0% to 5% with 5% to 30% in the mountains. Most of the area presents formations mainly composed by metamorphic, eruptive and sedimentary rocks, with 2/3 of the basin composed by schistones.

The climate is temperate, with rainy winters and hot and dry summers. The average temperature is of 16 ºC, and in the summer peak months (July and August) it varies from 23 - 26ºC. In the coldest month (January) it varies from 8 ºC in the north of the basin to 11 ºC in the (south) coastal areas. In this river basin temperature reaches maxims of 41 to 44 ºC. The average annual sunshine duration is 2829 hours, with an average: maximum for July (370 hours) and minimum for December (147 hours). The average annual precipitation is 568 mm, spatially ranging from a minimum of 350 mm to little more than 1000 mm. Precipitation occurs 50-80 days per year and, in volume, more than 80% of it is concentrated in the humid semester (between October and March). As to potential evapotranspiration, the averaged yearly value is 1242 mm and it increases in the dry semester. Figure 13 presents the mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Portuguese Guadiana’s basin territory. The total average runoff due to that part of the basin is 1887 hm³/year, whereas in Spain the annual mean flow is 5470 hm³/year.

Portuguese Guadiana’s water storage capacity is of 460 hm³, but this figure will be highly increased due to Alqueva new multi-purpose hydraulic plant (still in construction), which will account for a (useful) storage capacity of 3,150 hm³. Although currently a 30 hm³ inter basin water transfer from this basin to Algarve occurs, Alqueva’s storage capacity will enable a foreseen big inter basin water transfer of about 700 hm³, mainly to Algarve (for irrigation and for public water supply, in support of tourism water needs) and also to Sado’s basin (for domestic and industrial water supply).

 

Figure 13: Mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Guadiana’s basin

 

In terms of water availability, in average, it is currently of 3373 hm3/year, consisting of 2944 hm3 of surface water (1001 hm3/year in dry years) and 429 hm3 of renewable groundwater. It must be emphasised that Guadiana’s basin is one of the regions of Portugal that has lastly been most affected by droughts, namely in the beginning of last decade (90-95), when periods with no affluences from Spain did occur.

Surface waters are considered inadequate to the various uses, according to the national legislation, due to its poor quality as they are the receptors of the pollution caused mostly by Spain and also by national agriculture. The same can be applied to some aquifers, with groundwater presenting parameters like magnesium, sodium and nitrates exceeding the maximum acceptable values for drinking water. As to the (small stretch south) coastal waters the quality is good.

The main pollutant loads produced in Guadiana´s basin in 1998 were estimated as:

v      BOD₅ = 17389 ton/year

v      TSS = 17849 ton/year

v      COD = 26250 ton/year

v      Total nitrogen = 7019 ton/year

v      Total phosphorus = 1600 ton/year

The percentage of population served with water supply is currently of 84% and a similar percentage (83%) applies to wastewater drainage, but only 67% benefit from treatment facilities. There is a low overall efficiency in agriculture water use (about 60%). The total annual water consumption is 419 hm3 (with about 98 hm3 returning back to the hydric environment), with the following distribution: about 400 hm3 of water are used in agriculture, 14 hm3 in domestic uses, 3.3 hm3 in industry, and in tourism about 1.65 hm3. The percentage distribution of water uses per sector can be seen in figure 14, whereas the percentage of the total water use in Guadiana’s basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory can be seen in figure 15. Again it should be stressed that water demands are expected to increase due to Alqueva new multi-purpose hydraulic plant in construction, namely on agriculture, due to the development of the currently predicted new irrigation areas.

 

Figure 14: Water uses in Guadiana’s basin

 

Figure 15: Percentage of the total water use in Guadiana’s basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory

 

The average household income in 2000 was 13562 €/year, with only 0.89% of this value allocated to domestic water supply, which indicates the low water pricing (0,70 €/m³), although much higher than for irrigation water (0,06 €/m³), which is strongly subsidised, as already referred. The cost recovery is correspondingly low (23% in the urban water sector).

Agriculture is (even if indirectly) the most important economic activity in the region, with the viticulture sector assuming high importance and contributing to the increase of the tertiary sector in the region.

There is a recent inter-municipal urban (main) water supply and wastewater drainage and treatment systems’ company (Águas de Portugal group) that only “covers” the northern part of the basin. Thus the pricing of water is mostly (still) a political issue and not currently aiming cost recovery.

 

Table 15: Guadiana matrix

Natural conditions and infrastructure	Regional Context	Climate Type	Csa :Mediterranean Temperate
		Aridity Index	AI =0.46 Semi- Arid
		Permanent Population	182580
		Area (km2)	11601
	Water availability	Total Water Resources/ Availability (hm3)	3401/ 3373
		Trans-boundary water (hm3/year)	1000
	Water quality	Quality of surface water	Low
		Quality of groundwater	Low
		Quality of coastal water	Good
	Water Supply	Percentage of supply coming from: ·         Groundwater ·         Surface water ·         Desalination, Recycling ·         Importing	43.4% 56.1% - 0.5% (1)
		Network coverage: ·         Domestic ·         Irrigation ·         Sewerage	84% 76% 83%
Economic and Social System	Water use	Water consumption by category: ·         Domestic ·         Tourism ·         Irrigation ·         Industrial and energy production	3.35% 0.39% 95.47% 0.79%
		Resources to population index (m3/person/year)	18627
	Water demand	Water Demand trends	Increasing
		Consumption index	12.3%
		Exploitation index	11.7%
	Pricing system	Average household budget for domestic water	0.89%
		Average household budget for agricultural water	0,06 €/m3
		Average household income	13562 €/year
		Cost recovery	Low
		Price elasticity	Low
	Social capacity building	Public participation in decisions	Bad
		Public education on water conservation issues	Low
Decision Making Process	Water Resources Management	Water ownership	Public (partly private)
		Decision making level (municipal, regional, national) regarding: Water supply for each sector	National/Municipal
		Water resources allocation for each sector	National
	Water Policy	Local economy basis	Agriculture and Services
		Development priorities	Agriculture

 ⁽¹⁾ Imported from Sado’s basin (2 hm³)

 

Ribeiras do Algarve

Ribeiras do Algarve river basin covers an area of 3837 km² and its population is 324100 inhabitants (1998), with a population density of about 84 inhabitants per km², a value still smaller than the average for Portugal Continental territory (110 inhabitants per km²) but the greatest among all southern (of Tejo) river basins, namely Sado and Guadiana. The region is mostly plain, with altitudes ranging from 0 to 100 m, and only a few spots above these values. Most of the area presents formations mainly composed by volcanic rocks (especially basalts).

The climate is Mediterranean temperate, characterized by rainy winters and dry summers. The average temperature is 18 ºC. The average annual sunshine duration is maximum along the south coastal areas (3180 hours). The average annual precipitation is 840 mm, occurring 50-75 days per year in almost all the region. As to potential evapotranspiration its yearly average is 1229 mm and it increases in the dry semester. Figure 16 presents the mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Ribeiras do Algarve basin. The total average runoff is 348 hm3/year.

 

Figure 16: Mean monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration in Ribeiras do Algarve basin

 

The overall water availability is currently, in average year, of 570 hm³/year, consisting of 298 hm³ of surface water (104 hm³/year in dry years) and 272 hm³ of exploitable ground water. Algarve’s storage capacity is small (about 63 hm³).

Surface water presents quality problems, as rivers have almost no flow in dry period and receive the pollution caused by urban areas and agriculture. Dam storage reservoirs assume a high importance in water supply due to that fact, but also some quality problems occur on it, especially in the summer. The same can be applied to groundwater with parameters like calcium, sodium, chlorides and nitrates exceeding the maximum acceptable values for drinking water and irrigation water. As to coastal waters the quality is good, with the exception of one or two polluted spots.

The main pollutant loads are mostly generated by urban wastewater, animal husbandry and non-point source loading from agriculture. The loads produced in Ribeiras do Algarve basin in 1998 were estimated as:

v      BOD₅ = 11678 ton/year

v      TSS = 17492 ton/year

v      COD = 12091 ton/year

v      Total nitrogen = 2473 ton/year

v      Total phosphorus = 647 ton/year

The percentage of population served with water supply is currently of 82%, higher than the value correspondent to wastewater drainage (73%), with only 72% benefiting of treatment facilities. Urban water supply overall losses are currently high (with an average of 37%) and there is a low overall efficiency in agriculture water use (about 60%). The total annual water consumption is 340 hm³ (about 95 hm³ returning back to the hydric environment), distributed as follows: 305 hm³ of water are used in agriculture, 21.8 hm³ in domestic uses, 10 hm³ in tourism, and in industry about 2.4 hm³. The percentage distribution of water uses per sector can be seen in figure 17, whereas the percentage of the total water use in Ribeiras do Algarve basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory can be seen in figure 18.

Water shortage occurs in the summer period, when the demands of water are higher, once this is an area that attracts a large number of tourists (currently estimated as 780,000, more than twice the permanent population) and also with strong needs of water for irrigation. Thus the conflict of uses of water between the two sectors.

 

Figure 17: Water uses in Ribeiras do Algarve basin

Figure 18: Percentage of the total water use in Ribeiras do Algarve basin in proportion with the water use in Portugal Continental territory

 

The average household income in 2000 was 13573 €/year, with only 0.90% of this value allocated to domestic water supply, which indicates a low water pricing (0,68 €/m³), although much higher than for irrigation water (0,07 €/m³), which is strongly subsidised as already referred. The cost recovery is correspondingly low (40% in the urban sector).

Ribeiras do Algarve coverage on water supply and wastewater drainage was made up to 1999 based on a large number of Municipal network systems, managed by Municipalities. In 1999, the exploitation of Primary water supply systems began, based on two Inter-municipal companies: one for the west part of the basin, “Águas do Barlavento Algarvio” and another one for the east part, “Águas do Sotavento Algarvio”. In 2000, the two companies were joined into one, “Águas do Algarve, SA.” aimed to serve in terms of water supply (and wastewater drainage and treatment systems) most of the river basin territory. This company is currently already operating the “primary system” of water supply for most of the region. Since 2001, it has also the concession for the primary network for wastewater drainage and treatment aimed to be operational by 2006. The secondary (domestic) water supply and wastewater drainage systems are still of municipal responsibility. Thus the pricing of water is (still) a political issue and not currently aiming cost recovery.

 

Table 16: Ribeiras do Algarve matrix

Natural conditions and infrastructure	Regional Context	Climate Type	Cs: Mediterranean Temperate
		Aridity Index	AI =0.68
		Permanent Population	324100
		Area (km2)	3837
	Water availability	Total Water Resources/ Availability (hm3)	540/570
		Trans-boundary water	No
	Water quality	Quality of surface water	Low
		Quality of groundwater	Low
		Quality of coastal water	Good
	Water Supply	Percentage of supply coming from: ·         Groundwater ·         Surface water ·         Desalination, Recycling ·         Importing	71.5% 19.6% - 8.9% (1)
		Network coverage: ·         Domestic ·         Irrigation ·         Sewerage	82% 77% 73%
Economic and Social System	Water use	Water consumption by category: ·         Domestic ·         Tourism ·         Irrigation ·         Industrial and energy production	6.43% 2.90% 89.96% 0.71%
		Resources to population index (m3/person/year)	1666
	Water demand	Water Demand trends	Increasing
		Consumption index	62.8%
		Exploitation index	56.6%
	Pricing system	Average household budget for domestic water	0.90%
		Average household budget for agricultural water	0,07 €/m3
		Average household income	13573 €/year
		Cost recovery	Low
		Price elasticity	Low
	Social capacity building	Public participation in decisions	Bad
		Public education on water conservation issues	Low
Decision Making Process	Water Resources Management	Water ownership	Public (partly private)
		Decision making level (municipal, regional, national) regarding: Water supply for each sector	National/Municipal
		Water resources allocation for each sector	National
	Water Policy	Local economy basis	Tourism
		Development priorities	Tourism and Agriculture

⁽¹⁾ Imported from Guadiana’s basin (30 hm³)

 

Sources and References

 

v      Aires, C. Mineiro, 2001. “The Institutional Framework for Water in Portugal”, Implementing Transboundary Rivers Conventions, with emphasis on the Portuguese-Spanish Case: Challenges and Opportunities, FLAD, Lisbon (on printing)

 

v      INAG, 2001. Plano Nacional da Água (National Water Plan), MAOT, Lisbon.

 

v      INAG, 2000. (15) Planos de Bacia dos Rios Nacionais (Portuguese River Basin Plans), Inag, Lisbon.

 

v      Maia, R., 1999. “Portuguese-Spanish Rivers Basins: Bilateral Agreements’ Evolution and Context”, Water Science & Technology “Environmental Challenges for the Next Millennium”, IWA Publishing, Vol. 42, NI- 2 2000

 

 

Annex

General Overview of Mainland River Basins

 

Range of circumstances in Mainland River Basins of Portugal

 

Table 17: Overview of the river basins of the country

River Basin	Area (km2)	Population (1998)	Climate				Altimetry
			Average Temperature (ºC)	Precipitation (mm/year)	Evapotranspiration (mm)	Runoff (hm3/yr)
Minho	818	82760	10	1954	652	1059	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 1400 m with several mountains especially in the interior
Lima	1566	167740	12	2208	819	1629	Average altitude: 374 m Maximum altitude: 1415 m Altitudes 0 - 450 m: 68% Altitudes > 750 m: 15%
Cávado	1699	450890	12	2172	852	2099	Average altitude: 542 m Maximum altitude: 1545 m Altitudes 0 - 150 m: 31% Altitudes > 600 m: 47% Altitudes > 1050 m: 14%
Ave	1459	551550	13	1830	907	1228	Average altitude: 268 m Maximum altitude: 1260 m Altitudes 0 - 280 m: 60% Altitudes > 560 m: 10%
Leça	236	271100	13	1334	772	104	Average altitude: 124 m Maximum altitude: 531 m Altitudes 0 - 150 m: 76% Altitudes > 200 m: 13%
Douro	18854	1932700	15	1016	521	9192	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 1400 m, increasing from the coastal areas to the interior
Vouga	3706	702660	14	1532	718	1908	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 1100 m, increasing from the coastal areas to the interior
Mondego	6878	693390	12	1181	665	3430	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 2000 m (Serra da Estrela), increasing from the coastal areas (0 to 100 m) to the interior.
Lis	1009	180060	15	964	654	260	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 200 m.
Ribeiras do Oeste	2395	803970	14	884	639	300	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 600 m (most of the areas 0 m to 200 m)
Tejo	25161	2812850	14,9	821	632	6164	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 2000 m (Serra da Estrela), increasing from the coastal areas (0 to 100 m) to the interior
Sado	8295	292960	16	622	467	972	Average altitude: 127 m Maximum altitude: 501 m Most of the areas have altitudes that range from 50 m to 200 m
Mira	1767	23950	16	689	496	196	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 400 m, increasing from the coastal areas to the interior
Guadiana	11601	182580	16	568	401	1887	Average altitude: 237 m Maximum altitude: 1027 m Most of the areas have altitudes that range from 100 m to 400 m
Ribeiras do Algarve	3837	324100	18	840	630	348	Altitudes ranging from 0 m to 100 m, with few spots above these values