During the summer months the typically Mediterranean waterways suffer a temporary interruption of river connectivity, leaving water trapped in so-called "pools". These sites are now used by terrestrial animals (both domestic and/or wild) to quench their thirst, the permanence of which causes a decrease in the volume of available water and a degradation of its quality (by the deposition of excrement as well as trampling of the bed).
In a section of the Murtigão stream, which crosses Herdade da Contenda, at the height of the summer, a summer pool is formed that is recurrently visited by larger game and where the occurrence of saramugo is known.
As a way of minimizing the impact of direct watering on that pool, and thus safeguarding aquatic life in the warmer months of the year, LIFE Saramugo has promoted the construction of a small embankment dam on a runoff line on the Murtigão stream. Located in the immediate vicinity of the summer pool, it will serve as an alternative watering point for the deer population that goes to that stretch of the river to drink water. In parallel, an electric fence will be installed around the handle to condition the access of these animals to the waterline and thereby maintain and improve water quality, especially during summer.
By limiting the presence of large animals, this intervention is expected to have a short-to-medium positive impact on the quality of aquatic habitat in the pool, and to contribute to the survival of saramugo and aquatic organisms that depend on conditions that exist in these little “oases”.
