The project, which considers three potential locations between Odemira and Sines, aims to overcome the serious water shortage and guarantee the survival of agricultural projects in the region.

The analysis prepared by the company ADAN points to the “deterioration and limitation of supply” of the only water source in the region, the Santa Clara dam. Currently, this infrastructure only has four to five years of maximum guaranteed water supply, based on an annual agricultural consumption of 12 million cubic meters and an annual rainfall of 350mm.

Given the worsening situation and unfavourable weather forecasts, the study commissioned by AHSA suggests an onshore desalination plant and a reservoir connected to the Mira Beneficiaries Association (ABM) network.

The first scenario contemplates the hypothesis of building a desalination station along the coast of the municipality of Odemira and, as such, in the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina (PNSACV), although outside the area of ​​the Coastal Shore Program (POC). This would allow the use of the region's natural resources, whilst assuming strict environmental care, along with robust licensing, according to the study.

Alternatively, the study “Atlantic Water for Southwest Alentejo” evaluated the possibility of using the desalination station planned for Sines. A desalinated water pipeline would be attached to this station, which, by sea or land, would be connected to Odemira, transporting the water to the regularization reservoir – which, in either case, will have to be built.

However, “legal issues and significant costs” led the exercise to a third scenario, namely, the “return” of the desalination plant to Odemira, on the edge of the Natural Park, moving it approximately three kilometres away from the coast.