With 45% FENAREG asks the Government for urgent measures because of the drought, FENAREG asks the Government for urgent measures because of the drought.
In a statement the National Federation of Irrigants of Portugal (FENAREG) justifies that they are “measures to guarantee farmers’ access to water and ensure the production of the agricultural campaign†and lists some of the decisions that it considers necessary to be taken by the Government:
Implement flow regimes in watersheds so that there are no periods of zero flow, situation that often occurs on the Tagus River, even in irrigation campaigns with less scarcity. There is an urgent need for an assertive dialogue and a firm position with the Government of Spain to change the rules of the Albufeira Convention that regulates the joint management of international rivers in the Iberian Peninsula.
Operationalize the quota for water collection in the Santa Clara reservoir, proceeding immediately with a new license for the Mira Hydro-Agricultural Development and with the installation of the respective adduction equipment;
Accelerate the connections of the Alqueva dam to the reservoirs already identified as urgent, namely, Monte da Rocha, lookout, Campilhas and Pego do Altar and the direct connection of the WTPs to the EFMA distribution system.
no Algarve, ensure the survival irrigation of permanent crops (orchards, vines) through an exploration plan for the various uses that considers water from the Bravura Dam and alternative abstractions, as, the Odelouca Dam and underground intakes. Accelerate the collection of water in Pomarão to reinforce water in the Sotavento Algarve.
Measures to compensate farmers for the effects of drought, which in some regions of the south of the country occurs for the 8th consecutive year, in a year in which the profitability of farms is threatened by rising raw material costs, in particular the energy.
Trigger the measurement of green electricity, with support fees of at least 40% of the total invoice, to offset rising energy costs of nearly 200%, in a context of drought in which there will be greater consumption of electricity associated with irrigation. The measure must include individual irrigation and collective irrigation, through their organizations, the Irrigators' Associations.
Implement a financial risk management instrument for the case of drought (for example a line of credit or moratorium on the payment of investments made in agricultural holdings in years of drought).
Exempt the irrigators from the Water Resources Fee (TRH) during the irrigation campaign 2022, resuming a measure that has already been implemented to mitigate the effects of the drought in 2012.
Significantly reduce the price of water in Alqueva to reinforce the reservoirs in the irrigation perimeters linked to EFMA in the irrigation campaign of 2022, enabling the conservation of the diversity of cultures practiced in these areas. Return of TRH in the contribution of this price reduction, through support from the Environmental Fund to offset this tariff deficit to EDIA (as it is already applied in the Ãguas de Portugal systems).
These measures were presented by FENAREG to the Minister of Agriculture in a meeting to be 31 January 2022. The Federation congratulates the Government for the measures announced in the meantime to mitigate the effects of the drought on agriculture, namely, the advance payment of support to farmers under the PAC and the announcement of the opening of the PDR2020 notice for the installation of photovoltaic energy panels in the irrigated land, directed to hydro-agricultural uses. We consider, however, that it is necessary to go further, both in the short and long term.
