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Alqueva dam in the Guadiana River Basin—Past and future of illusive water abundance
Author(s) -
Neto Susana
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
world water policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2639-541X
DOI - 10.1002/wwp2.12001
Subject(s) - livelihood , recreation , european union , geography , water storage , water scarcity , politics , water resource management , environmental planning , agriculture , business , environmental resource management , political science , environmental science , engineering , mechanical engineering , archaeology , law , inlet , economic policy
The historical need for water storage in the Guadiana Basin led to the construction of a large scale dam, creating a reservoir with capacity of 4,000 million m 3 and maximum flooded area of 25,000 ha. The Alqueva Dam is a large multi‐purpose project (irrigation, hydro‐electricity production, domestic supply, recreation) that answers to the old expectations of water storage in the dry region of Alentejo, Portugal. The long “stop‐start” decision process was dominated by political objectives, and both local communities and major political forces envisaged Alqueva as a “magic” solution for development of the Alentejo. This Project had a general national consensus, although many environmental NGOs were clearly against it. The final decision of the European Union to fund the Project, due to the regional development perspective, was the decisive step to resume the project. This paper discusses the “social perception of scarcity” and the paradox of how this addition of a large volume of water storage in the Guadiana basin led to a dramatic cultural change in regional landscape and livelihoods, creating new opportunities for foreign stakeholders, and users, but at the same time did not necessarily increase access to water for most of the local communities and small scale farms.