Historical development of the Levada da Serra do Faial and surrounding levadas

Preliminary note

If you study maps and descriptions of the levadas around Ribeiro Frio and along the course of the Levada da Serra do Faial, there is considerable confusion about names, courses and historical assignment. After studying the Elucidario Madeirense I am therefore trying to bring some structure and clarity to the subject. In this connection I would like to thank the Caminheiros Anonimos da Madeira very warmly for their pointers and support. The present situation can really only be understood if you keep the historical development of the levadas in mind.

The Levada do Furado is one of the oldest levadas on Madeira. Already in the 16th century a levada is reported that was initiated by Raphael Catanho. It probably brought water from the Ribeiro Frio to the sugar-cane plantations of Canical. The problem was probably maintaining the long levada, so that drawbacks such as water loss and constant problems such as landslides and rockfall eventually outweighed the benefits.

In 1830 people considered how the fertile areas of Canico, Sao Goncalo and Santa Maria Maior could be supplied with more water. Engineer Adriano Trigo founded a company named 'Socieda da Nova Levada do Furado'. Here the Levada do Furado was mentioned by name; it ran from the Ribeiro Frio to Lamaceiros and passed its water on to the Levada da Portela to irrigate the areas around Maiata and Porto da Cruz. Also mentioned is the Levada do Juncal, which brings water from the Ribeira do Juncal to Ribeiro Frio, uses the levada bed of the Levada do Furado as far as Lamaceiros, and sends its own water on via a water divider in Lamaceiros to Lombo da Raiz and from there to Santo da Serra. There it splits into 2 branches and irrigates areas around Santa Cruz and Agua da Pena. This principle of an intake of one's own, and of using the bed of other levadas, is very important for the later development and for understanding the history as well.

The intention of the 'Socieda da Nova Levada do Furado' was to lead water from the Ribeira das Lajes to the Madre of the Levada do Juncal and, in the levada bed of the Levada do Juncal and the Levada do Furado, both of which were already in state hands, to lead it to Lombo da Raiz and, in a levada still to be built, on to the Pico do Infante at Sao Goncalo.

In 1840 the planning was finished, but financial and geographical problems prevented construction of the continuation from Lombo da Raiz to the Pico do Infante. The levada extension from the Ribeira das Lajes to the Levada do Juncal was built, however. This levada was called Levada dos Accionistas. It carried the water first in the newly built section, then in the bed of the Levada do Juncal and the Levada do Furado as far as Lombo da Raiz and likewise on to Santo da Serra. There, in a levada divider, 1/3 of the water was turned into a new Levada Nova, which led to Santa Cruz, and 2/3 of the water into the existing Levada do Juncal with its 2 terminal branches.

In 1861 the state took the initiative and planned the opening up of new water sources and the continuation of the levada from Lombo do Raiz to the Pico do Infante. Between 1871 and 1905 a levada was built from the Ribeira Seca to the Ribeira das Lajes to gain new water resources, and at the same time the continuation from Lombo da Raiz to the gates of Funchal was built. From the Ribeira das Lajes to Lombo do Raiz the existing levada bed of the Levada dos Accionistas, the Levada do Juncal and the Levada do Furado was shared. At the levada divider that already existed in Lamaceiros, the water of the Levada do Furado was turned into the Levada da Portela. At the new levada divider in Lombo da Raiz the water from the Levada do Juncal and the Levada dos Accionistas was separated off towards Santo da Serra. From here the water flowed in a levada bed of its own.

This new levada was called Levada da Serra do Faial. Its water sources were the Ribeira Seca, the springs of the Ribeira da Ametade, the springs between Ribeira Seca (Furado do Lapao) and Pico da Nogueira (Lombo Furao), the Corrego da Choupana, Correga da Cabra, the springs of Rocha do Gavino and the springs in the water tunnels below Feiteiras. The levada bed from Ribeiro Frio to Lamaceiros is therefore used by 4 different levadas (see also historical Levada da Serra do Faial).

The consequence of the intake of the Levada da Serra do Faial in the Ribeira Seca was the closure of the Levada da Faja dos Vinhaticos, which was vital for Santana. As compensation, from 1860 to 1904 the Levada da Serra de Sao Jorge (Levada do Caldeirao Verde) was built, with its intake in the Ribeira Grande in the region of the Caldeirao do Inferno.

In 1930 an additional branch was built as far as above Ilha

Until 1943 the situation around the Levada da Serra do Faial remained stable. The whole problem of distributing water through the Caixa Divisoria has increasingly faded into the background, because all the levadas involved were in state hands. Even so, in my opinion it is important to understand how the principle worked. In 1943 the great plan of the Comissão administrativa dos aproveitamentos hidráulicos da Madeira was approved. It included the additional building of new levadas and the construction of hydroelectric power stations. With the opening of the Levada dos Tornos, LevadaNova da Santa Cruz and Levada do Canical, the Levada da Serra do Faial lost regional importance.

On the IGeoE map of 1966 the terminal branches of the Levada do Juncal and the Levada dos Accionistas (Levada Nova) are newly named Levada da Serra (da Santa Cruz) and have a somewhat different course. I do not know exactly what went on there. Whether this Levada da Serra (da Santa Cruz) is still maintained in any form today, piped or deactivated, is beyond what I know.

In 1970, with the building of the Faja da Nogueira power station, the situation in the Faja da Nogueira area changed fundamentally. The historical Levada da Serra do Faial was cut off at the Pico da Nogueira and, together with the newly built Levada Nova do Juncal, connected to the power station's forebay. The historical Levada da Serra do Faial was therefore torn apart; what remained were the upper course and the lower course, which however was no longer fed by its own water sources in the upper course, but by the residual water of the Levada do Furado, the Levada do Juncal and the Levada dos Accionistas and by the inflows below Lombo da Raiz.

The Levada dos Accionistas went on working on its own until ca. 1985, then it was given up because the maintenance was too great. Since then a pipe from the Ribeira das Lajes to the Ribeira do Juncal, which runs in the tunnel of the Levada Nova do Juncal and empties its water into the stream bed of the Ribeira do Juncal, supplies the Madre of the Levada do Juncal with additional water.

The naming of the levadas in the Faja da Nogueira area has been somewhat hazy and accidental since the power station was built. The Levada do Pico Ruivo is really only the levada in the Pico Ruivo tunnel; the section from the Ribeira Seca is and remains the Levada da Serra do Faial. The name 'Levada da Faja da Nogueira' or 'Levada do Pico Ruivo' as far as the Ribeira da Faja da Nogueira is somewhat arbitrary, especially as after the stream crossing it is called Levada da Serra do Faial again.

Levada purists can also insist that the Levada do Furado, the Levada do Juncal and the Levada dos Accionistas actually also go by the second name 'Levada da Serra do Faial', but at least the term Levada do Furado is by now so established that today it is impossible to imagine doing without it.