Ingenious techniques for irrigating the fields

Used for thousands of years to take up water and channel it to the fields, water scoops or norias, “cegonhas” and sluices supported early irrigation techniques, forming part of the Algarve’s agricultural history.

Introduced by the Arabs, the norias were whitewashed and composed of a waterwheel which moved a cable or chain to which a series of buckets were attached – these buckets carried water.  Initially they were pulled by blindfolded mules, donkeys or hinnies moving in a circular action.  Today, this job is driven by powerful motors.

The norias differed from region to region.  In the Western Algarve, norias with buckets were the norm, with devices mounted on the wells and the circles for the animals to go round.  In Eastern Algarve, elevation norias, with inner shafts to draw water with a bucket, were common.  In Faro and Olhão, norias had an axle attached to a machine, which was located next to the circle around which the animals worked.

Also used on small farms is a 'cegonha' (which is also the Portuguese word for stork, a bird that is native to the region), which allows water to be drawn from wells and rivers, by lowering and lifting a bucket attached to the end of a rod.  The sluices, stone walls constructed in rivers or streams, serve to retain, raise and divert water destined for irrigation.