With climate change causing water shortages a dam might seem like good news. Dams store water, provide renewable energy and prevent floods. Unfortunately, they also worsen the impact of climate change. They release greenhouse gases, destroy carbon sinks in wetlands and oceans, deprive ecosystems of nutrients, destroy habitats, increase sea levels, waste water and displace poor communities.
And then there’s also poor management of the water distribution that can lead to socioeconomic injustices…
In 2008, Manuel Amaro, head of the Association of Beneficiaries of Mira, commented to the newspaper PĂşblico that in the two discharge terminals of the Mira irrigation perimeter, one in Vila Nova de Milfontes and another in Rogil, more than two million liters of water was wasted per hour, corresponding in total to about 55% of the volume of the pumped water of the dam. This situation is caused by the system used for water supply, since to provide the irrigation mouths of the approximately 2500 farmers of the association it was necessary to maintain "almost 800 kilometers of infrastructure with water". As the volume of water necessary for agricultural holdings could not be released precisely, it was always supplied in excess, with the remaining volume being thrown into the ocean.
In the early 2020s, the dam reservoir suffered a large decrease due to drought, caused not only by climate change but also by intensive agriculture, which requires high water consumption. The entity responsible for the distribution of the water, the Association of Mira Beneficiaries, was accused of benefiting large producers of intensive agriculture, to the detriment of small owners:
In mid-2021, when the reservoir was only 49% capacity, the water supply was interrupted to the so-called precarious farmers, owners whose land was outside the Mira irrigation perimeter, although they had been supplied by the dam for decades. Leaving them without water. This situation was criticized by the injured farmers, who accused the Association of Beneficiaries of Mira of privileging large owners, who practiced intensive agriculture and had vast greenhouse farms, located in the coastal area.
Despite the drought situation, the Association of Mira Beneficiaries obtained authorization to expand the area eligible for irrigation of large producers of intensive monoculture. That organization was also criticized for having instituted a table per hectare, a measure that mainly affected the small owners.
In January 2022, the water rationing of the dam, which was at 40% capacity, was again determined for precarious users. This situation was exacerbated by the lack of alternatives for supply, since some streams dried up, and the wells and holes were almost empty, and the municipal plumbing network only covered about 70% of the population. The water cut to small owners not only affected farmers but also rural tourism units, and residents in more isolated areas, who had to be supplied by firefighters.
Sara SerrĂŁo, of the Juntos pelo Sudoeste movement, declared that "the model of intensive agriculture existing in the Southwest Alentejo is not of development, but of underdevelopment. It does not respect the specificities and sensitivities of the region, privileges long distribution chains (export), without returning to the territory any development or evolution and calling into question the Natural Park of the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina".
Oh, and those beautiful eucalyptus trees ? The ones that get their water from this dam? The ones managed by big corporations? The ones that grow on hills that have been cut to make plateau’s so they can grow level? They actually come from Australia and they need loads of water to grow. Eucalyptus trees produce gummy resin and oily leaves, making them an excellent fuel for a forest fire. The thin, burning bark of these trees can be blown easily in the wind, spreading the fire to the next forest. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that eucalyptus worsen drought and...
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