River group calls for freeze on new Tejo dams and weirs

The proTEJO movement has submitted comments to Portugal's environment agency APA on the next Tejo river basin plan, asking for a precautionary suspension of new dams, weirs and water transfers until their combined impact is assessed. It wants formal evaluation of specific projects, including the Alvito dam, the Constância-Praia do Ribatejo weir, the Tejo-Caia transfer, and two Abrantes data centres, given water scarcity concerns. The group also cites figures showing 93% of large regional dams lack defined ecological flow regimes and 98% have no fish passage devices, and calls for binding deadlines to fix this.

This appeared in the Pulse of 18 September 2026 — Read that edition →