The Algarve approaches the new hydrological year with 74% storage in the six main reservoirs, totaling 328 million cubic meters, 13 million more than a year ago, according to the APA.
According to data sent to the Lusa agency by the president of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), there is a record of an improvement in the region’s water reserves, which should not, however, translate into a slowdown of investments aimed at strengthening the security of the supply.
“We have water. We do not have water to waste,” said José Pimenta Machado, arguing that periods of greatest availability “should be seized” to prepare the region for new dry years.
Among the priorities pointed out by that official are the fight against water losses in urban networks and in agricultural irrigation systems, through the recovery of volumes currently wasted and the increase of efficiency.
The realization of the desalination project is another of the highlighted measures, as it constitutes “an additional source of water less dependent on rainfall” and would function as a safety reserve during periods of greater scarcity.
José Pimenta Machado also identifies the connection of Pomarão to the Odeleite reservoir as a strategic investment, intended to reinforce water availability and the resilience of the Algarve’s supply.
The current state of reserves “cannot slow down these investments”, and, on the contrary, is an opportunity to advance with the projects ahead of a new scarcity situation, the official argued.
Water savings must also remain a priority across the different sectors, namely at home, in tourism, in agriculture and in services, through more efficient uses, he argued.
“Water resilience is built before the drought,” stressed the APA president, arguing that it is in the period of greatest availability that responses for the future should be prepared.
Data from the APA/Sistema Nacional de Informações sobre Recursos HÃdricos (SNIRH) and from the Algarve Region refer to Monday.
The hydrological year is a 12-month period, starting on October 1 and ending on September 30.
It begins in October as it is the time when water reserves reach their minimum and the rainy season of the year begins.
The wet period of the hydrological year is from October to April and the dry period from May to September.
