Portugal says EU needs plan to promote water availability to fight scarcity

Responding to the threat of water scarcity must include creating a plan to promote water availability in the European Union, namely through management technologies that reduce waste, said Portuguese Agriculture Minister Maria do Céu Antunes on Monday.

On Tuesday, Portugal’s agriculture minister is set to present the ‘ReWaterEU’ plan at the Council of EU agriculture ministers to respond to the problem of drought and water scarcity in the EU, according to a document to which Lusa has had access.

ReWaterEU’ is intended to help reduce the EU bloc’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change on water resources by guaranteeing access to water for public supply in terms of quantity and quality at fair prices, as well as the availability of water for agriculture, tourism and industrial uses, and the protection of different ecosystems.

With regard to the management of water resources, the government proposes to implement measures such as reducing water losses in distribution systems, optimising storage and transport infrastructures, reusing water for non-potable purposes in the urban, tourist, industrial and agricultural sectors, and investing in desalination plants.

The plan is to be financed by EU funds and private investment.

In March, the European Commission will launch a Water Resilience Initiative, which will include a series of immediate actions and launch a public debate on achieving water resilience.

According to the European Drought Observatory, referred to in the Portuguese proposal, about 42% of continental Europe is in a state of warning and about 8% in a state of alert, with a particularly worrying scenario in the EU’s south, plagued by severe and prolonged droughts.

(Ivone Gravato | Lusa.pt)

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