"The idea of ​​having 'excess water' in certain basins, such as the Rio Grande do Sul basin, is absolutely wrong. In this century, we have already had meteorological drought phenomena in 2004/06, 2011/12, 2015, 2017/18, 2019 and 2022, phenomena whose recurrence tends to increase with climate change".

MovRioDouro answered questions from Lusa within the scope of the regional meetings of the working group ‘Água que Une’, created by the Government to develop a new national strategy for water management.

"In 2022, in the Douro and Lima, there was practically an extreme drought", recalled the movement, also pointing out that "the situations will become increasingly recurrent, as indicated by the climate scenarios for the Douro basin (an average reduction is estimated of 25% in surface water inflows over the next 50 years)".

According to MovRioDouro, "in these years, agricultural activities were severely harmed", something that is reflected in the "recourse to the anarchic abstraction of groundwater".

The movement recalls that "in Trás-os-Montes, numerous populations need to be supplied by tankers" in years of drought "and also, normally, in the summer period".

In the government's order, the plans to be studied within the scope of the review of the current planning framework foresee, "as a last resort, the transfer of water between river basins", known as transvases.

"Water transfers between basins represent a vehicle for the spread of exotic species, further increasing the vulnerability of native species. Furthermore, water transfers are the main source of social and political conflicts in water management," says the movement.

For MovRioDouro, "agriculture has to be adapted to the territory and cannot depend on massive transfers of water from other regions, with very high financial and environmental costs".

"New crops that are highly demanding on water (red fruits, avocado...) and the transformation of olive and almond groves from rainfed farming to intensive production have exponentially increased water needs", they note.

MovRioDouro thus considers that "super-intensive agriculture has worsened this situation", since "it represents 74% of water consumption and this consumption, paradoxically, is greater where water is scarcer".

"The continued increase in water supply is unsustainable, not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality, given that the load of fertilizers and pesticides from intensive agriculture creates degradation of ecosystems and has repercussions on public health. The increase of cyanobacteria in reservoirs reflects this problem", they point out.

The movement also points out that "the irrigation perimeters are public, but those who use the water do not pay for the installed infrastructure, but only for its conservation and a usage fee" and, "therefore, there is pressure to build many desalination plants and carry out transfers, both with very high costs".

"Who will pay for these works? Will the cost be reflected in the price of water or borne by all taxpayers? Low prices like those practiced in many irrigated areas, where average losses are around 40%, encourage the use disordered use of water and inefficiency in its use", warns the movement.

MovRioDouro gives the example of Alqueva, in Alentejo, "where traditional farmers have almost disappeared, being replaced by international venture capital companies, which take advantage of low water prices".