“Especially when the sources of water are less and less and it is considered that the investment in the solutions passes only through the State and the citizen's tariff, if water is becoming scarce, the price must reflect this scarcity, especially since that price is the strongest sign that we have to give water users to use it more sparingly”, stressed João Pedro Matos Fernandes at the opening of the 15th Water Congress, organized by the Portuguese Water Resources Association, where he also said that "the solution" for water scarcity "is not to conquer new forms of supply to gain time off for more consumption".

The government official added that when savings are appealed, it is because of “sufficiency” and “limits”, stressing that “there is still a lot that can be done within these limits” and pointing the finger at the misuse that consumes resources and increases operating costs, which, he said, should also be charged.

“If water is life and territory, it is also energy. It is significantly present in the operating costs, in the energy that feeds the infrastructures and equipment, in the treatment of the increasing flows that reach the pumping stations and the WWTPs, many of whom did not need to be there or, if they arrive there, they should also pay for this service”, pointed out Matos Fernandes.

The Minister for the Environment confirmed that he was referring to rainwater, “which can and must be in separate networks, feeding ecological systems or being reused”, as well as “non-urban waters that benefited from a systemic vision of treatment and recovery”, “undue inflows” and “non-compliant deliveries”.

“These are some of the themes that certainly benefit from strategic planning and a concise approach on the part of the systems, whether they are multi-municipal, inter-municipal or municipal, whether up or down. It is this planning that we want to encourage, properly framed by the strategic plan for water supply and rainwater waste management for the year 2030”, said Matos Fernandes.

This planning is also important in the management of energy resources, even of renewable energy and new energy sources and technologies that are beginning to be explored, such as

The digital session took place on World Water Day, which is marked today with initiatives in various parts of the country to alert people and governments to the urgent need to preserve and save this natural resource.