Africa-Press – Cape verde. The recent accumulation of water in the Flamengos dam, without rain in the last three months, has been the subject of admiration, strangeness, curiosity and the most diverse speculations. This Thursday, the National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANAS) came to explain that this phenomenon is due to the strong recharge of the underground water table, recorded following the rains and infiltrations that occurred in 2022 in the high areas of the Flamengos watershed. .
The chairman of the ANAS board of directors, Cláudio dos Santos, gave this explanation at a press conference, given not only to present technical clarifications on the accumulation of water in the Flamengos dam reservoir, but also on the management of dams and the use of Water.
“This is a natural phenomenon that occurs in many places whenever the hydrogeological conditions allow the formation of underground water currents, which can flow to the surface, giving rise to springs”, he said, stressing that this phenomenon depends on natural factors.
Strangeness, admiration and speculation
In the specific case, he clarified, the percolation of the water that took about three months to rise, happened after the rains that allowed the resurgence or reinforcement of the springs.
Faced with this phenomenon, Cláudio dos Santos understands people’s strangeness or admiration that it occurred in the dry period, although he does not consider it surprising, since the Flamengos Dam (Calheta de São Miguel) is located downstream of the source.
“Built to retain a large amount of water from floods during the rainy season, which, unfortunately, has not happened since its construction due to droughts, the dam now, in the dry season, retains water from the resurfaced source, forming an accumulation of water which, according to measurements made by ANAS, reached 4m in height”, he indicated.
Reinforcement of flows
Cláudio dos Santos also reported on the “important” increase in the flow rates of the existing wells and hole FST-844 in the locality, stressing that it is “very beneficial” for the practice of agriculture in the locality.
As this is a recent and dynamic situation, in which the flow of the spring may decrease or disappear, ANAS, as he said, together with the company AdR (Água de Rega), is working on the implementation of an adequate system of water management, obeying established principles and rules.
However, he warned, if there is evaporation, infiltration and even excessive use of water from Flamengo, the dam could dry up at “any moment”.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
