Various municipalities and public companies in the Algarve’s water and sanitation sector have already begun works worth €120 million, some of which have been completed, as part of efforts to reduce water losses in the region’s public water supply networks from nearly 20 percent to 15 percent.

Full funding available

The reduction is being supported by a measure combining funding from the Algarve 2030 Regional Programme with money from the Environmental Fund, allowing water-efficiency projects to be fully financed.

Since the projects are fully funded, potential beneficiaries have moved forward with applications and works, which must be completed by 2028.

“Of the total already underway, the Environmental Fund will have to support 11 million euros. By 2028, 48 million euros will be allocated to approved water projects. This amount represents 40 percent [of the co-financing]. Adding the other 60 percent [of Algarve 2030], it amounts to something like 120 million euros,” said the Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, at a press conference at the Dom José Beach Hotel in Quarteira on 30 September.

The first public entities to begin and complete the works under the government measure signed agreements that same day to receive the first tranche from the Environmental Fund, reimbursing the amount they would normally have had to bear because it was not covered by European funding.

€3.7 million reimbursed

So far, a total of €3.7 million has been reimbursed to the municipalities of Silves, Castro Marim, Lagoa and Lagos, as well as to the municipal companies Ambiolhão, FAGAR (Faro), InfraMoura (Loulé), Taviraverde and EMARP (Portimão), and Águas do Algarve.

The financing agreements between the Environmental Fund and beneficiary entities were signed at the headquarters of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) in Faro.

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