Intermunicipal territory brought to life in Porto District

The intermunicipal project of the Rio Tinto River Clean-up project, led by Porto Municipal Company Águas do Porto, in the context of the global urban planning of Porto district has been successfully concluded.

On 17 July, Minister of Environment Matos Fernandes, and Mayors of Porto and Gondomar, Rui Moreira and Marco Martins, respectively, inaugurated the intermunicipal project.

For decades, the river was heavily polluted due to illegal discharges of polluting substances; at present, after the cleaning up of the Rio Tinto for ecosystem value there have been spotted species by the River Keeper of Lipor in the Rio Tinto environment, namely ducks, salamanders and newts that are considered a gauge of the health of the ecosystem that provides its habitat.

The Minister for Environment, Matos Fernandes enhanced the role environmentalist associations played during this process "never giving up so that this can be a clean territory where there is cleanliness and wellness for the community".

The river stretches for up to 12 km, through the Porto district. The clean-up project started in June 2016, and it included the comprehensive register of the polluted areas so as to implement natural engineering interventions to recover the river bed.

The clean-up in water quality and ecosystem conditions of this tributary to the Douro River, flows to the Freixo area. The inter-municipal project was budgeted at approximately 7, 9 million euros, and it is monitored by the municipal company Águas do Porto.

Moreover, this intervention shall link the 36 500 square metres Urban Park of Rio Tinto, and the Eastern Park of the City of Porto that will be expanded by 20 ha. The expansion of the Eastern Park is under the supervision of landscape architect Sidónio Pardal, who also supervised the establishment of Porto City Park.