A statement issued by the 15 mayors and sent to the Lusa news agency by the Intermunicipal Council of the Alto Alentejo Intermunicipal Community (CIMAA), which is responsible for the project’s implementation, expressed disapproval of the action, labeling it an “environmentalist blockade.”
“The Crato Multiple Use Hydraulic Development Project — Pisão Dam, the most ambitious project in Alto Alentejo in decades, is forced to halt its operations due to a precautionary measure filed by environmental associations with the Castelo Branco Administrative and Fiscal Court, resulting in the annulment of the Environmental Impact Declaration (EID),” the statement reads.
A group of environmental associations has filed a precautionary measure to stop the Pisão Dam works, as revealed today to the Lusa agency by GEOTA’s executive secretary, Hélder Careto.
“The purpose of the precautionary measure is obviously to stop the works since there is already a large area of destruction,” warned Hélder Careto of the Group of Spatial Planning and Environment Studies (GEOTA), one of the environmental organizations involved in the precautionary measure.
Hélder Careto emphasized that after the process commenced and the parties were notified by the court, the “works did not cease, continued,” prompting environmentalists to pursue other legal actions to address the situation.
“Currently, the matter is under judicial consideration, awaiting detailed resolutions from various entities cited in the process along with the judge’s decision,” he said.
He argued that the construction “was supposed to be completely halted, as the judge ordered but that didn’t happen.”
The precautionary measure was filed by the environmental groups GEOTA, Quercus, LPN, and Zero, with CIMAA and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) among those notified.
In the statement sent to Lusa, CIMAA announced plans to respond to this action through appropriate channels and expressed its “deep conviction” that it will overcome this new obstacle to the development of Alto Alentejo.
CIMAA also assured that, “regardless of opposition,” the Pisão Dam project “will be realized,” bearing the commitment of the mayors from 15 municipalities in the Portalegre district, the government, and the local communities.
CIMAA emphasized that the dam is a “decisive infrastructure” for the development of Alto Alentejo, aimed at “improving living conditions” while ensuring “total respect” for the environment.
“Scrutiny is natural for such a complex and transformative investment, with these legal obstacles, perpetuated by environmental associations, recurring in the past — and we are certain they will continue to arise — as long as it remains legally possible to contest the project,” they admitted.
CIMAA and its associates reaffirmed “total transparency” in managing the process and “meeting all environmental demands,” adhering strictly to the prevailing norms and legislation.
As such, they reiterated their “full confidence in the continuation” of the Pisão Dam’s construction: “We further reinforce our confidence in the work conducted by the APA and the Ministry of Environment and Energy” along with “all entities involved in the process.”
According to CIMAA, the Pisão Dam represents the “largest ever” public investment undertaken by an intermunicipal community, with a funding allocation of 222 million euros, secured through the State Budget and other available financial sources.
The initiative aims to ensure potable water supply, combat regional desertification, diversify agriculture, and contribute to the reconfiguration of energy production in this Alentejo area, argued CIMAA.
Furthermore, the project, highlighted, is “intended to act as a magnet for residents in a demographically disadvantaged region of the country while simultaneously maintaining an efficient water resource management system.”
