A "major opportunity" for the Alto Alentejo, with the same significance for the region as the Alqueva project had in the Évora and Beja districts. The construction of the Pisão dam took a new step on 13 January with the signing of the new funding agreement for the Crato Multi-Purpose Water Systems. 

At the ceremony, Prime Minister António Costa stressed that this is a decade-old project that is now moving forward. "I will not hide that of the 160 thousand projects set under the Recovery and Resilience Facility [RRF], none brought as many headaches, required as many discussions or involved more compromise, none required more manoeuvring than the Pisão dam", he noted recalling that the first study undertaken on this dam dates back to 1957. "When faced with challenges, some give up; others when faced with problems say ‘I’d best stand aside’; and then others like to solve problems and tackle challenges", António Costa added, underlining that this new infrastructure is a "major opportunity" for the region, as happened with the Alqueva in the Baixo Alentejo. 

"Decades were spent discussing if the Alqueva dam would be built or not, that it would have a terrible impact on the environment that there would be difficulties because to build Alqueva it would be necessary to relocate people. Decades of wasted opportunities and wealth that would have made the Alentejo as a whole a much more developed region if the Alqueva dam had been built before", the Prime Minister reminded.

With the updating of the RRF reprogramming, the project to build the Crato Multi-Purpose Water Systems, also known as the Pisão dam, has a boost of more than 20 million euros. The new infrastructure’s allocation is 141.2 million euros, in the RRF, as well as a 10-million-boost from the State Budget to a total investment greater than 200 million euros. 

In addition to the dam, the project, run by the Alto Alentejo Intermunicipal Community includes building a 150-megawatt floating photovoltaic plant and channels for watering for farming and public mains.

A historical claim by the region, the dam will ensure water supply to the people in Alter do Chão, Avis, Crato, Fronteira, Gavião, Nisa, Ponte de Sor, and Sousel, a total of around 55 thousand people, and will allow watering approximately 5500 hectares.

The construction work will be concluded by the end of 2026.