According to the study “The economic value of water in Portugal”, in 2015 families spent on average 1.3% of their budget on water and related services (solid waste and wastewater), a lower value than to other countries. The rate increase will not be unaffordable for most families, the document said.
Combined data analysis indicates that urban water consumption is expected to increase by approximately 5.7% by 2030. “To maintain consumption at the 2022 level, the price of water will need to increase by 25.7% by 2030 , for an average of 3.2 euros per cubic meter, which can be considered the economic value of water for urban consumption”, we read in the document.
Miguel Gouveia, speaking with the Lusa agency, stated that many information and awareness campaigns are needed to reduce consumption, efforts that will have to be accompanied by price increases, which although they are not “something pleasant” will not have a great impact “on the vast majority of families”.
“I also understand that more is asked of those who have more,” he said, referring to what some municipalities already do, namely increasing prices in the highest consumption brackets.
Even agriculture, the sector that consumes the most, will have to make more rational use of water. “There has to be an effort on all fronts.”
Miguel Gouveia recalled that technological progress has led to improvements in water consumption, that washing machines today consume much less water, or that in agriculture the path is the same. “30 or 40 years ago irrigation used 14 thousand cubic meters per hectare, today it consumes 4 thousand”.
In agriculture, he underlined, the value of water is much higher than the cost in most cases, explaining that the study served to establish a value of water, something that was missing in Portugal.
20% decrease
The basis of the work, said the manager, is the fact that in Portugal average annual rainfall has decreased by 20% in the last 20 years and is expected to decrease by another 10-25% by the end of the century.
In addition to other factors, water scarcity will have a direct impact on hydroelectric generation potential, making electricity more expensive, and “will have significant macroeconomic impacts, in particular on GDP (in a scenario of more severe climate effects, GDP could decrease by 3.2%), in increases in unemployment and inflation rates, and a deterioration in the trade balance”.
“We will have less water, it will be a gradual process, despite the fact that in Portugal it rains more than in several European countries”, observed the manager, underlining that if we invested in ways not to lose water (more tanks) we could have greater availability. Without investment, the desert will advance across the south of the country, he warned.
“Not all investments are profitable and this can be seen with the value of water,” he said, underlining the importance of having a “good cost-benefit analysis” of the public policies under discussion, to avoid risks of waste.
According to Miguel Gouveia, who cites expert opinion, the reuse of treated wastewater makes sense in the Algarve but less so in other regions, because the elevation of these waters (the treatment plants, WWTP, are close to sea level) has a fee.
Good returns
Likewise, improvements to networks to prevent leaks will also be very expensive. “It doesn’t mean it’s not worth investing in, but it doesn’t mean we won’t get a big return,” she explained.
Relocations may be a solution, and building desalination plants may also be an option, albeit a costly one, especially since it is insurance in case of extreme shortages, “but it cannot be a blind strategy.”
Miguel Gouveia insists on a “systematic analysis of which of the various options is cost-effective”. And he reinforces: “This is the main message: answers that are as rational as possible.”
