Vitor Guerreiro: “we will not give up” on creating a water reserve in Ribeira do Alportel

Vitor Guerreiro, Mayor of São Brás de Alportel , today reaffirmed his total determination and commitment to ensuring that the construction of a strategic water reserve in Ribeira do Alportel becomes a concrete reality for the municipality, at the meeting chaired by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, on the theme “Water that Unites”, which took place in Faro, at the headquarters of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission ( CCDR ).

On the occasion, an assessment of the region's water situation was carried out and measures to face the challenges of climate change were presented, with the Minister of the Environment once again stressing that the creation of a water reserve in São Brás de Alportel is an essential step towards guaranteeing the Algarve's water security and resilience.

This is a commitment that Maria da Graça Carvalho had made in February, at the meeting in Lisbon, with the municipality's mayors, Mayor Vitor Guerreiro and Vice-President Marlene Guerreiro, and which she reiterates today.

«The municipality of São Brás de Alportel has been fighting for decades to create a water reserve in the Ribeira do Alportel, a project that is becoming increasingly urgent given the current climate scenario, where water is scarce for long periods and fires are a constant threat», points out the municipality.

According to the municipality, “the São Bras territory, with its strategic location in the heart of Serra do Caldeirão and upstream from the region’s major water consumption centers, has unique conditions to accommodate an infrastructure of this nature.”

“We have not given up, nor will we give up. This is a decades-long struggle with a single objective: to guarantee water for the Serra de São Brás de Alportel and neighboring territories, to protect our territory and to develop the economic and environmental potential of our mountain range”, stated Vitor Guerreiro, who once again assumed the role of main agent in the municipality’s water management, leading local and regional efforts to implement this fundamental project.

«The creation of this water reserve will not only increase the storage capacity and sustainable management of water resources, but will also boost the preservation of the Serra do Caldeirão — integrated in the Natura 2000 Network and classified as a National Ecological Reserve — and revitalize rural villages, combating depopulation and promoting the economic, agricultural, forestry and tourist development of the region», adds the local authority.

The Municipal Council of São Brás de Alportel “remains fully available to continue collaborating with the Ministry of the Environment and all competent entities, exploring all opportunities that allow us to guarantee the water security of the region and the well-being of future generations”, it informs.