Environmental association Zero today called the national irrigation policy ineffective and “potentially damaging”, claiming that contributions to the fight against desertification “are, at the very least, questionable”.
“The national irrigation policy has spent billions of euros on irrigation projects, with particular emphasis on the Alqueva megaproject, which will already have absorbed more than three billion euros, and further spending is planned for future expansion,” Zero said in a statement.
In the document, published to mark World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the association asserts that investments are nothing more than measures to mitigate effects, not combat them.
“Contributions to the fight against desertification are questionable, to say the least”, it stresses.
According to Zero, the strategic plan of the Common Agricultural Policy and the national irrigation program have failed to align with the fight against desertification.
The association explains that the national irrigation program has, over the last few decades, “thwarted several objectives” of the National Action Program to Combat Desertification (PANCD).
The degradation of historical and cultural heritage and unique identity landscapes, the devaluation of agricultural practices, soil degradation due to poor practices in the installation of irrigated crops, the encouragement of exponential increases in water use, the degradation of biodiversity, the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the failure to reverse the trend of population loss are just some of the factors leading to desertification.
Zero stresses that “it is crucial” that the new national irrigation program – the “White Paper on Public Irrigation” – “guarantees the participation of the whole of civil society in two indispensable processes”.
According to the association, the impacts of the national irrigation program must be assessed, in particular the socio-environmental consequences in the various territories, and the new plan must be built in a participatory and territorial manner.
“The national irrigation policy is a national water policy, since it determines the destination of most water withdrawals. It is therefore necessary to involve the whole of society, particularly local communities in areas that are at the front line of desertification processes. We must ensure that the national irrigation program is subordinate to the objectives of combating desertification”, he stresses.
The association recalls that at the end of May, 35% of mainland Portugal was in a situation of severe and extreme drought, particularly in the Tagus Valley, Alentejo and Algarve regions. In these regions, soil water values are below 10%.
“If, during the period 1960-1990, 36% of mainland Portugal was subject to desertification, during the period 1980-2010, this area already corresponded to more than half (58%), and an even more serious situation if we consider the decade 2000-2010 (63%),” the report states.
Zero adds that south of the Tagus River, the area classified as semi-arid more than doubled between the periods 1960-1990 and 1980-2010, and that the Baixo Alentejo, in particular, has 94% of its territory at risk of desertification, 38% of which is critically susceptible.
Considering it urgent to have “a broad and transparent debate” on the effectiveness of the PNDC, which will be in force until 2024, the association asserts that “concrete actions” should be “defined and financial means made available” to achieve soil degradation neutrality by 2030.
Today, Portugal exhausts the available resources for this year.