An investigation led by the Portuguese Environment Agency on the quality of Portugal’s water has detected, in some parts of the country, the presence of banned pesticides.
These finding surges with the concerns about heavy droughts in the country, as underground waters are fundamental for human consumption in times of drought.
The director of the Department of Water Resources in the Environment Agency said that water is an increasingly scarce resource and it is important to use it with great care during the months of drought. “We have detected, in some places, pesticide contamination that concerns us, and some substances are no longer authorised in Portugal, so we need to pay more attention to the impacts that the intensification of agricultural activity can have on the quality of water”.
The concerning areas, which were not specified but where agricultural activity is more intense, will now be subject to measures in order to correct the problem.
In regard of the illegal substances found in the analysis, the APA says that today, “anyone can buy whatever they want over the internet”, without ruling out the is possibility that some might have been brought to Portugal by Spanish farmers.
