Beja, Portugal, Aug. 7, 2024 (Lusa) - The president of the Alqueva company, José Pedro Salema, said on Wednesday that the payment that Spain will begin to make for water abstracted from this reservoir in Portugal's Alentejo region will put an end to a "very big injustice".
"We've been identifying this issue for a long time as a very big injustice, because there are beneficiaries 100 metres away from each other and some pay and others don't," so "when it's resolved, we'll be very happy," he said.
The head of the Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company (EDIA) was speaking to Lusa after the minister for the environment announced on Tuesday that this payment should be included in the agreement to be signed between the two countries in September.
According to minister Maria da Graça Carvalho, the amount to be paid by Spain will be €2 million per year.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of EDIA explained that the beneficiaries on the Portuguese side pay for the water they draw from the Alqueva reservoir, unlike the farmers with catchments on the Spanish side, who have no charge.
"We've known since before we built the Alqueva reservoir that there were catchments on the River Guadiana and some that would benefit from the effect of building the reservoir. Those are the ones who have a duty to pay," he emphasised.
As for the €2 million to be paid annually by Spain, José Pedro Salema pointed out that the amount was calculated by directly applying the tariff for the Alqueva Multipurpose Development (EFMA).
"Spanish catchments will pay the same as Portuguese catchments," he emphasised.
Thus, he said, the amount calculated is the result of "50 million cubic metres" of water that Spain is expected to draw from Alqueva this year multiplied by "four cents, round figures, which is the EMFA tariff", which gives €2 million.
Pointing out that he still has no indications as to which entity EDIA will bill for the water collected on the Spanish side, the company's president said he was "in agreement with any system", emphasising that the instructions given by the government will be followed.
Asked by Lusa about the amounts that have remained unbilled in recent years, José Pedro Salema replied that he was not aware of any talks between the two countries on the subject.
"EDIA's turnover in water sales last year was around €30 million. So the two million [to be paid by Spain] is not insignificant and could represent 7 or 8% of our turnover in water," he said.
José Pedro Salema said he hoped that the agreement to be signed between the two countries in September would include the standardisation of the Spanish catchment on the River Guadiana, in the Pomarão area, in the district of Mértola (Beja), and the project for a new catchment, in the same place, to bolster the Odeleite-Beliche system in the Algarve.
According to the official, Portugal "also needs Spain's agreement" for the new water abstraction on the River Guadiana, because "all abstractions on the international stretch [of the river] have to have the agreement of both countries".
The Spanish catchment on the Guadiana river "has been operating for many years with an expired provisional authorisation", he added.
Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said on Tuesday that the agreement to be signed between herself and her Spanish counterpart on 26 September in the Spanish capital, Madrid, will involve not only the regulation of water abstraction in Alqueva, but also issues related to the Tagus and Guadiana rivers.
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