Copyright 2001 Reuters
September 5, 2001
Story by Daniel Silva

ALQUEVA, Portugal - Europe's biggest reservoir - the subject of bitter criticism by environmental groups - will start to fill as planned at the end of 2001, Portuguese Planning Minister Elisa Ferreira said this week.

Along with environmental concerns and worries that the reservoir would flood ancient cave drawings, newspaper reports have said the two billion euro ($1.82 billion) Alqueva dam on the Guadiana River is behind schedule and over budget.But Ferreira said construction of the reservoir, aimed at providing water for Portugal's semi-arid Alentejo region, was following its timetable. When completed, the project will cover 250 square km (97 square miles) and eventually irrigate 110,000 hectares (272,000 acres) of farmland.

"Right now, the work is in fact steaming ahead and is even making up for lost time," she told reporters at the dam site.

Ferreira said operations to start filling the reservoir were scheduled for December 31 during winter rains.

Ferreira was at Alqueva, about 180 km (110 miles) southeast of Lisbon, for a special cabinet meeting that set an initial price of 11 escudos (0.055 euro) per cubic metre of water from the reservoir for agricultural use.

The cabinet of Prime Minister Antonio Guterres also approved a measure that set up a land bank in the Alentejo to sell or rent land to young farmers.

Construction of the dam involved felling a million trees, many of them cork oaks. Environmental groups protested that the project would destroy habitat for animals that include eagles, kites, wild boars and some of the few remaining Iberian lynxes.

Guterres vowed in April to go ahead with the project despite opposition criticism that cave drawings in the Guadiana valley would end up under water.

The dam also will force residents of the village of Luz to move into a newly built replica of the town on what will be the banks of the artificial lake.

The project has cost about 450 million euros since 1995, Ferreira said. By its conclusion in 2025, it is estimated to cost two billion euros.

O Independente newspaper reported last month that the dam would only begin to operate in October 2002, leading to a cost overrun of 30 million euros. Error: Unable to read footer file.