These are flood prevention and mitigation works resulting from "studies and cross-referencing of data" conducted to define "solutions" for flooding and which demonstrate the importance of "planning, prevention, and mitigation of rain cycles" in the Altura waterfront area and along the banks of the Ribeira do Álamo, the municipality stated in a statement.

"Among the main objectives is to correct and minimise the effects of careless urban planning in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, which resulted in soil sealing and the construction of barriers to the natural flow of water, which have caused flooding over the years," the Algarve City Council explained.

The execution of a "hydraulic study" of the Ribeira do Álamo and low-lying areas of the town of Altura to determine the flow rates of recent decades, in scenarios of maximum high tide, and "evaluate the safety conditions of land and structures in the most severe situations," will now guide the development of plans and subdivisions, as well as projects for the implementation of the public storm water network.

The Castro Marim City Council has committed to "developing projects and works" that reduce the "impacts of flooding on the Altura waterfront, in older developments, whose infrastructure network has not previously been protected against storm water runoff."

The municipality cited examples of past interventions, such as the construction of a submarine outfall as part of the licensing process for the Verdelago tourist development, located between Praia Verde and Altura, with "a pipeline and an offshore emission network" to "support the runoff of stormwater from the southern area of ​​Altura."

Among the projects that the Castro Marim City Council plans to carry out are, for example, an intervention on a storm water collection and disposal system and a retention pond within the Verdelago Detailed Plan area to "double the capacity for sewage and subsequent discharge via underwater outfall" and provide "support for the management of flood-prone areas."

“The municipality of Castro Marim is committed to organizing, improving and enhancing the enjoyment of all public space in one of the main coastal areas of the Algarve, minimizing the problems created by human action (…) due to a lack of study and prediction of the force of nature,” said the Algarve City Council, highlighting the importance of these actions in the face of “the greater intensity of increasingly unpredictable, unstable and frequent natural phenomena.”