Whether or not there is truth in the conjectures that Mother Nature is sending waves of storm-clouds in savage retaliation for human incivility, we can be sure that the weather is continuing a pattern of worsening reality.

Rising temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean cause disproportionate increases in evaporation. This is then carried by air streams as rivers of condensation to fall as rain on the European coasts. It is not the frequency of such storms that is increasing but their intensity and this results in rain and gale force winds normally associated with typhoons.

Such was the case with storm Kristin. The extent and value of the devastation have already been assessed as €6 billion nationwide with €1.5 billion attributed to the district of Leiria. Who made this calculation is not clear but what is certain is that a painstaking engineering survey will reveal a horribly larger picture of the presently unseen damage caused to foundations and structures. The power of water-flow and its inexorable force in confined circumstances are probably the greatest in the natural world.

In recent years we have seen bridges swept away, roads undermined, landscapes changed and fissures in our dams causing the peril of wide spread flooding. Public buildings including many of the historical sites so proudly presented for tourism have suffered from a supposed lack of funds for supervised maintenance. Little has been done to prepare for the catastrophes which now descend upon us at such an alarming scale.

Last year there was much talk about the “housing crisis” which has been explained demographically as resulting from the lack of supply to meet the demands of a rapidly increasing population. Storm Kristin has demonstrated that Portugal´s antique housing stock largely consists of inadequate properties built to poor standards of construction. Many were built by speculators in locations such as marshland and river-banks on land where planning consent had not been given.

To repair the present obvious damage and to re-construct architecturally unsound buildings is going to cost far more than €6 billion. It is also going to keep the existing labour force busy for at least a year. This means that new projects such the Data Centre (USA) and Lithium Processing Plant (China) proposed for the municipality of Sines must lose their priorities. It is essential if we are to restore our national respect by the reconstruction of both commercial and residential property to the minimum standards of safety and comfort which are essential for the populace to live. work and play with dignity. Only in this way can momentum be restored to the traditional Portuguese economy which can progress eventually to a position of strength within Europe.

Water of potable quality is the most necessary chemical compound of all. Without it life ceases to exist. Yet humanity (which has existed on planet Earth for only a fraction of a second in its timeline) persists in treating it as an inexhaustible commodity which is there to be bartered as a key to global power and control.

A UN report published towards the end of year 2025 declared that “the world is entering an era of global water bankruptcy” and warned that overuse and pollution must be rigorously controlled if complete system collapse is to be avoided.

Controversy within the industry and among environmentalists concerning the capture, storage and distribution of potable water in Portugal was, at last, brought to a positive head by the publication of the government´s report “Water that Unites”. This foresees an investment of public funds totalling €5 billion by year 2030 to focus on efficiency, resilience and intelligence in water management all of which qualities have been sadly lacking in past governance.

In urban water distribution networks, losses during year 2025 were estimated at around 27% while for rural locations and irrigation systems the high was 40%. The installation of new pipelines (which could also carry electricity and telephone lines) would make dramatic savings. The construction of new dams and heightening of river banks would enable the capture of rainfall, its chanelling to urban centres and control of flooding. Yet the government announced in January that only €187 million was to be invested by the end of the decade in the cleaning and improvement of rivers and waterways which have suffered from years of neglect.

The newly elected mayor of Sines has declared he is re-assessing the magnitude of the scheduled enlargement of the industrial zone and port. This is calculated to require a doubling of the present population with all of the associated construction of housing, schools, clinics, social and shopping centres. The potential requirement for a constant supply of water is immense but will be met by piping from the basin of the river Tejo supplemented by a desalination plant of similar size to that which is planned for The Algarve.

Fortunately, the Start Campus Data Centre, Mineral Processing Plant and a host of supporting high tech businesses will have cooling water supplied by pumping huge quantities from the sea. A rate of 250 litres per second is envisaged for stage one of the centre at 14/29 MW capacity but the four subsequent buildings will raise capacity to 1,200 MW. The consequent input/discharge from/to the Atlantic Ocean could have an accumulating detrimental effect on sea life in the vicinity by increasing both temperatures and saline content.

Other projects for Data Centres and cyber industry are mooted for locations in the north and central Portugal. Each will have the same grand appetite for water which will need to be supplied from existing resources and new dams.

Agricultural thirst for water be it potable or treated waste will not diminish and, until the government´s measures become effective, requirements for what we are able to save from deluges may well become competitive with industry and commerce - especially when we return, inevitably, to months of drought.

What is paramount is that the comfort and dignity of the Portuguese people should come first. Making Portugal Great Again will be achieved only by the preservation of national identity and culture. If this means less time being spent in the pursuit of an illusory growth in GDP in return for improvements in our traditional values, so be it.

This essay is linked to “Water, water ever rare; and not a drop to waste” Published in TPN 03-01-2025.