The Mayor of Baião attended the signing ceremony for the ‘Water Resource Management – River Contracts’ cooperation agreement on Wednesday, 30 July. This initiative marks an important step in flood prevention and river renaturalisation in Portugal, focusing on areas of greatest risk, with 17 intervention projects planned in the northern region.
The Teixeira River, in the municipality of Baião, was one of the watercourses that met the conditions for intervention. The application submitted by the municipality represents a total investment of €2,575,780, of which €1.9 million will be co-financed by the Northern Regional Operational Programme 2030, corresponding to 75% of the total investment. The remaining amount will be shared between the APA and the Municipality of Baião.
This project is part of the municipal strategy to enhance the value of rivers, promoting sustainable development, and is one of the commitments included in the Compromissómetro (Commitment Meter) that is already in place. In addition to creating an ecological corridor through the use of nature-based solutions, this project has the dual function of preventing and managing the risks highlighted by climate change, increasing the resilience of the territory and reducing the risk of flooding and its negative impacts on human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activities.
The planned interventions include the recovery of riparian areas, the restoration of river beds, the stabilisation of banks, desilting, the creation of retention basins, and other water prevention, planning and rehabilitation measures. In addition, the project will improve knowledge and response capacity to flood risk through the installation of meteorological and hydrometric stations, with remote transmission and video surveillance systems, to strengthen monitoring and early warning.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister for the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, the Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development, Hélder Reis, the President of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), José Pimenta Machado, and the President of the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), António Cunha, as well as the Mayors or Councillors of the municipalities covered: Caminha, Monção, Valença, Ponte da Barca, Arcos de Valdevez, Ponte de Lima, Braga, Póvoa de Varzim, Esposende, Santo Tirso, Amarante, Chaves, Mirandela, Lousada, Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Régua and Baião.
The total investment in this initiative amounts to €33.5 million, covering the Areas of Significant Potential Flood Risk (ARPSI) of the Minho and Lima, Cávado, Ave and Leça, and Douro river basins.
This protocol is part of the government’s ‘Água que Une’ (Water that Unites) agenda and aims to strengthen territorial cohesion and environmental resilience through cooperation between CCDR-N, APA and the municipalities involved.
