The Guadiana will now have a minimum monthly flow following an agreement on Wednesday between the Portuguese and Spanish governments, which also formalised their commitment to a daily flow in the Tagus.
The agreement between the two countries on water flows in the Tagus and Guadiana rivers was signed on Wednesday at the 35th Portuguese-Spanish Summit in Faro.
The agreement on “a monthly flow regime on the River Guadiana in the Pomarão section” aims to “guarantee the good condition of the estuary and the equitable distribution of the flows available for the use of both States”, reads the joint declaration of the 35th Luso-Spanish Summit.
The agreement “on the guiding principles for establishing a daily flow in the Tagus River from the [Spanish] Cedilho dam” also aims to “maintain circulating flows”, according to the document.
The joint statement also confirms the previously announced agreements to regulate irrigation water taken from the Alqueva reservoir by farmers from both countries, under which Spanish users will pay Portugal for the water they take, under the same conditions as those imposed on the Portuguese side.
At a meeting on 27 September in Aranjuez, in the Madrid region, the Portuguese and Spanish environment ministers had already announced an agreement in principle to set minimum daily flows for the Tagus and, for the first time, for the Guadiana.
On this occasion, the ministers referred the signing of the definitive agreements to today’s Iberian Summit, as well as the details of the flows to be established for the Guadiana.
According to Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho, the agreement on irrigation water from the Alqueva reservoir will also allow progress to be made on the Portuguese project to collect water in the Pomarão area, in the district of Beja, to supply the Algarve, which affects international waters.
At the summit on Wednesday, the two governments also signed an agreement “that will make it possible to regulate professional and recreational fishing in the international section of the River Guadiana”.
This agreement, according to the summit’s final declaration, “should guarantee equal conditions for the fishing communities” of both countries, “together with the protection of the ecosystem and biodiversity, ensuring the sustainability of fishing activity”.
(Margarida Pinto | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
