Coimbra, Portugal, Jan. 26, 2026 (Lusa) - The construction of the Girabolhos dam in the district of Seia, in central Portugal, and the maintenance of the river Mondego hydraulic works downstream from Coimbra are two of the essential conditions for preventing flooding in that river basin, according to farmers and association leaders.
The president of the newly appointed board of the Mondego Valley Farmers' Association - an entity that had been inactive since 2012, following the death of agricultural entrepreneur Carlos Laranjeira - told the Lusa news agency of the need to regulate the Ceira River and build the Girabolhos dam.
"Until we regulate the Ceira, everything that flows into the Ceira River ends up in the Lower Mondego. During the 2019 floods, with the Aguieira dam releasing the minimum amount of water, more than 1,000 cubic metres [per second, equivalent to one million litres] entered the Mondego from the Ceira, a river that is in a wild state," said João Grilo.
In addition to the regulation of the Ceira, a mountain river that rises in the Açor mountains, in the district of Arganil, and flows into the left bank of the river Mondego, near Coimbra, the association leader noted the lack of maintenance in the central channel of the Mondego: "The riverbed is overgrown with trees again, and there is no maintenance in the central channel. We are always playing catch-up," he lamented.
João Grilo also advocated the construction of the Girabolhos dam in the area of Seia, in the region of Guarda, as essential, an infrastructure that has long been demanded by farmers and various entities.
"If it happens, Girabolhos will be another very comfortable cushion for Aguieira and Raiva [dam], which, together with the Fronhas dam on the Alva River in Arganil, are included in the Mondego River basin.
The plan to build the Girabolhos dam was suspended in 2016. However, in March 2025, the previous government led by the current prime minister, Luís Montenegro, decided that the project should go ahead, included in the national strategy ‘Água que Une’ (Water that Unites).
For Armindo Valente, vice-president of the Association of Beneficiaries of the Baixo Mondego Hydro-Agricultural Project, the priority is the construction of the Girabolhos dam.
"The Baixo (lower) Mondego will only be safe from flooding and have enough water for irrigation during the summer once the Girabolhos dam is a reality," he stressed.
The agricultural entrepreneur said that with the construction of this water storage infrastructure, the problem of flooding in the Mondego riverside areas and the city of Coimbra will be solved.
Armindo Valente also addressed the current situation of the hydro-agricultural development project - which has been unfinished for almost 50 years - with the construction of the water main on the right bank of the Pranto River, a tributary of the Mondego, currently underway, although the works have been temporarily suspended due to weather conditions.
Also on the Pranto, farmers are concerned about the deterioration of the Maria da Mata floodgates, which led last week to a demand for urgent intervention by the Coimbra District Farmers' Association (ADACO).
In a statement, ADACO pointed out that the Maria da Mata floodgates prevent salt water from entering agricultural fields, but have not been working for six years, a situation that has been the subject of successive complaints, without success.
In the note, ADACO said that it has been waiting for two years for the Portuguese Environment Agency to comply with the procedures for launching the public tender and awarding the contract, which has an estimated cost of €1.2 million and has not yet begun.
JLS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
