Europe's largest artificial lake opens new opportunities for Portugal's rural communities

摘要

The Alentejo region in the southern half of Portugal at 27,000km~2 covers almost one third of the country and has a population approximately 500,000 inhabitants. However, it has not yet managed to develop its full potential. Whilst it is relatively arid, it is a beautiful area with rich potential for the diversification of agriculture and development of tourism. These attributes have long been recognised by the Portuguese government, but until the past decade it has always been the lack of a constant water supply that has held back private investment. This is now rapidly changing as the damming of the Guadiana River has helped to create the largest artificial lake in Europe and is enabling the implementation of a highly ambitious irrigation project.