″In Portugal, the Tagus River marks the border between the wet north and the dry south″
Is Portugal, in terms of Southern Europe, a country relatively rich in water?
Eurostat indicates that Portugal has 7.1 million cubic meters of water per thousand inhabitants, which compares with 0.2 in Malta, 2.3 in Spain, 3.1 in France and 6.7 in Greece. But of these 7.1 million cubic meters, about 48% come from Spain, which clearly demonstrates our dependence on adequate management of the water resources shared with Spain. The United Nations has a country with less than 1.7 cubic meters of water per thousand. In Northern Europe, there are more populous countries that also present values of this order of magnitude, as is the case of Poland, with 1.6, or Germany, with 2.3. But these countries are not faced with the seasonality problem that is characteristic of southern Europe, nor with the need for irrigation to ensure agricultural production.
Are there many differences in resources between north and south, even being a country?
The 7.1 million cubic meters of water per thousand inhabitants are definitely a national average. In Portugal, the Tagus River marks the border between the wet north and the dry south. With the exception of the inland Douro, the average annual importance north of the Tagus is over 800 mm, reaching over 3000 mm. south of the Tagus, the annual and The average varies between 400 mm. Water uses are also distributed asymmetrically: about 70% of the irrigated surface is located south of the Tagus. In hydroelectric production, the opposite is true, with the main hydroelectric plants located in the north of the Tagus
Madeira and Azores apart in terms of water abundance?
The Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores are particular cases due to their insular nature. It is a necessity, but it is worth living with the resources for which there is a need to live a lot. The average annual magazine in the various islands is higher than the average on the mainland, but Porto de Santo in exceptional cases as is the case (340 mm), in Madeira, or in Santa Maria (775 Azores). The question is that the water capacity in dry years, or in the summer months. This storage capacity is, above all, since it naturally provides a body of water that is difficult to build, since dams of appreciable size. The built space is a rare asset in nature islands and the Azores will not provide many local conditions with which a dam.
Does agriculture in Portugal have to be based on water, or is it conditioned to the culture they consume in water?
Activities must be conditioned by the amount of water available, but it is clear that our attention is focused on agriculture because it is the main user of water. The choice of crops must be adapted by the valuation of water use and assessment that we must include not only the productivity produced per cubic meter of water, but also what is desirable for the amount of agricultural product selected. The quantification of the net benefit must take into account all the benefits of the agricultural activity, the direct benefits received by the farmer and the indirect ones received by society, but also the same economic and environmental activity. Since it is up to the cultivator to decide on the forms of organization, this practice can influence the decision so that positive externalities and forms of change are changed.
Does individual attitude in consumption make a difference or does everything play out in big numbers?
At the level of local communities or small systems, a proactive individual attitude towards saving water can make a difference. But it’s like the biggest economies that optimize systems by reducing our transport and distribution efficiencies and increasing the water efficiency of large industrial and agricultural systems. The individual attitude is also important and important for the development of our water resource value and for us to invite everyone to the debate that we need to have about the use of water.
Wastewater reuse should be a gamble?
It is one of the options available to face the problems of water shortage and given its level of application in Portugal, the opportunities for its dissemination must be clearly explored. It is, a quality that exists, mainly, a sense of quality to the human consumption. Opportunities at the local level that can be realized with modest investments should be seized. Its application on a larger scale requires that the place of consumption is located in large urban centers, where the largest volumes of wastewater are generated. It is not, therefore, a solution that can be applied in all situations. Data on wastewater treatment and transport costs of treated water, increasing interest in its use.
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