The Pocinho dam is located in the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, next to the village of Pocinho, between the mouth of the Sabor river and the Côa River. It was inaugurated in 1982.
It is a 22m high dam, located at km 180 of the Douro waterway, about 27 kms from Barca d’Alva / Vega Terrón where the limit of the waterway is situated.
The Pocinho reservoir is classified as free-use, allowing unrestricted sporting and leisure activities (boat, motorboat, rowing and swimming) and restricted fishing and surfing. The Pocinho high performance rowing centre is located here.
The cruises that go up from Régua to Pocinho or Barca d’Alva pass through this dam, which is the last of the dams with locks in the Douro.
Upstream from Barca d’Alva there are the dams on the International Douro (where the river defines the border between Portugal and Spain) but they have no locks, so navigation is limited to local boats at each of the respective reservoirs.