Mondego River Floods: Portugal Orders Urgent Infrastructure Review

Portugal Orders Urgent Review of Mondego River Flood Defenses

The Portuguese government has requested an urgent technical report on the impact of recent flooding on the Mondego River, and a comprehensive evaluation of existing risk management models. The aim is to adapt infrastructure along the river basin to address the challenges posed by increasingly frequent and severe weather events.

Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho announced the request following a meeting with the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Carvalho emphasized that the current physical infrastructure of dikes along the Mondego was largely designed in the 1970s and is no longer adequate for the conditions Portugal is experiencing today.

“At this moment, we must adapt to climate change. We are experiencing climatic phenomena very different from those of the 1970s,” Carvalho stated. “We have asked the APA to join with the greatest experts at the moment to look at the physical infrastructure system of the Mondego and see if it is adapted to today’s conditions.”

The Minister indicated that the goal is to correct deficiencies wherever possible to prevent similar events in the future, asserting that “times today are different from the past” when the dikes were originally constructed.

Coordination Key to Avoiding Tragedy

Carvalho highlighted the importance of strong coordination between municipal authorities, Civil Protection services, and local stakeholders. She credited this collaboration with preventing a larger-scale tragedy during the recent flooding.

“This was essential to avoid a major tragedy,” she said.

The Minister pointed to two specific instances during the period of severe weather. The first occurred when the Mondego River’s water level approached the capacity of the dikes, prompting authorities to evacuate people from at-risk areas. “It was this spirit of prevention and unity that ensured everything proceeded more calmly,” Carvalho explained. “There was time, because the levee rupture only occurred more than 24 hours later.”

The second critical moment came when the Mondego levee ruptured. Carvalho noted that, in conjunction with local authorities, they were able to assess the situation and make crucial decisions. “There was, in the following moments, the decision to cut the A1 highway,” she said. “It was all of us working together and my immediately making that phone call that saved many lives.” Carvalho stated she had “no doubt” that failing to close the A1 would have resulted in a “complicated disaster.”

Study to Enhance Network Resilience

The government is launching a study to determine how to make the country’s infrastructure network more resilient. A dispatch will be published outlining lessons learned from the Mondego River flooding. The dispatch will also address the governance model for the Mondego basin, advocating for a co-management approach that includes municipal presidents, farmers, and industrialists to institutionalize the crisis management model adopted during last week’s floods.

The recent flooding caused a significant disruption to transportation, with the A1 motorway closed in both directions near Coimbra after a levee breach near Casais on February 11, 2026. Detours via the IC2 are adding 20-40 minutes to north-south journeys. Approximately 3,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Coimbra, Soure, and Montemor-o-Velho, and initial estimates suggest farm losses exceeding €1 billion due to widespread flooding of winter crops in the Baixo Mondego region.

According to the Portugal Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), repairs to the A1 are expected to take “several weeks” to complete. Emergency services, including firefighters, GNR officers, and army engineers, are working around the clock to address the situation, utilizing mobile pumps and rock armour to create a temporary plug until river levels subside. ANEPC’s Mário Silvestre has warned that further breaches remain possible along the river between Coimbra and Figueira da Foz.

Recent storms have also caused “marked coastal erosion” in the Algarve, with significant losses of sediment, retreat of the coastline and falling cliffs, researcher Óscar Ferreira warned. He defended urgent interventions, stating that the succession of bad weather “caused significant losses” of sand on several Algarve beaches.