Alqueva dam in the Guadiana River Basin—Past and future of illusive water abundance

Abstract

AbstractThe 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 m3 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.