Blue Peace Middle East organizes technical trip to address region’s water issues

By Emirhan Yilmaz

LISBON, Portugal (AA) – Blue Peace Middle East (BPME) organized a technical tour Tuesday covering Portugal and Spain with the aim of tackling the Middle East's water problems by promoting regional cooperation and sustainable water management.

Lenia Real from the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swiss Ambassador to Portugal Denis Knobel, Iraqi Ambassador to Portugal Adel Mustafa and academics were invited to participate while officials from Türkiye, Iraq, Jordan and Syria also took part.

Blue Peace Middle East is a regional non-governmental initiative with the goal of enhancing collaboration across borders, sectors and generations in the realm of water resources.

Speaking at the opening of the program, Real referred to the history of transboundary relations between Portugal and Spain in the context of cross-border cooperation in the five common river basins on the Iberian Peninsula.

He said the Albufeira Agreement signed between Portugal and Spain in 1998 outlined the framework for the protection of shared water resources.

Knobel expressed hope that the technical trip would inspire collaboration in transboundary waters.

Mustafa meanwhile stressed the importance of the work program in improving the lives of people in the region.

"This distinguished scientific and technical meeting is expected to be a step towards collective sustainable development and prosperity," he said.

During the presentations by guest officials and academics on the first day of the program, attention was drawn to the transboundary rivers between Portugal and Spain, the technical problems faced by downstream Portugal, and the drought issue experienced on the Iberian Peninsula.

Nuno Lacasta, president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), who was a guest on the first day of the program, emphasized the development of the Albufeira Agreement.

"Changing environmental and climate conditions are forcing coastal countries to comply with the agreement. This is leading both sides to ask challenging questions about how the other coastal country manages its part of the river basin and to jointly create projects and management approaches that will adapt to changing climate conditions," he said.

As part of the technical trip, the transboundary river areas that have caused problems between Portugal and Spain will be examined, and a technical assessment will be made by visiting the Alqueva Dam, one of the dams built in the region.

Based on the visits and impressions gathered from the areas studied, the possibility of cooperation among Middle Eastern countries regarding transboundary waters will be evaluated within the framework of a model similar to the cooperation established by Portugal and Spain.