Horta Municipal Council, on the island of Faial, is going ahead with an experiment to restore the Cancelas borehole, in the parish of Castelo Branco, whose water has high salinity that has worsened over many years of use. The idea is to inject rainwater into the borehole to restore it and supply better-quality water to the population.
The €300,000 investment is entirely covered by EU funds. According to the council’s mayor, Carlos Ferreira, if the method works it should be applied to boreholes on other islands and in other places, namely in the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde.
The initiative is part of the European Genesis project, which seeks to strengthen the climate resilience of critical water infrastructure through nature-based solutions. The project began in September 2024, ends in August 2028 and has a budget of around €10.5 million.
More than 30 of the project’s experts, technicians and advisers were on Faial for an international meeting, with workshops and a visit to the borehole. Greek geologist Pavlos Tyrologou, from the European Federation of Geologists, explained that the programme seeks to bring together tradition and technology, including sensors to capture and preserve water.
