“It is true that the rains in January and February brought some water to the Algarve reservoirs and that is good news, but we are worse off than in the past and we are in the worst situation ever in the region”, said the official.

José Pimenta Machado was speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition dedicated to World Water Day, which also marks the launch of the National Museum and Water Resources Archive project, to be installed in an old paper factory on the Caima River, in Valmaior, Albergaria-a- Velha (Aveiro).

Although the country currently has, on average, reservoirs at 87%, he said, problems persist on the Alentejo coast and in the Algarve, and in the future, the forecast is that there will be less water, warned the vice-president of APA.

He believes that first of all, it is necessary to act to have more efficient water management, without prejudice to moving forward with new dams.

“It doesn’t make any sense to have a network in which 50% or 60% of the water is lost”, he criticised, arguing that “the first priority must be given to the efficiency of the systems”.

It's just that it's not enough to have more dams if they don't have water and he exemplified: “we have to increase water reserves, but today we have three dams that are still at less than 20%, two in the Algarve and one in Alentejo”.

Desalinisation

In the particular case of the Algarve, the solution for the vice-president of the APA is the desalination of seawater, which is the other bet that has to be made.

“We are going to build the first large desalination plant in the Algarve area, in Albufeira [district of Faro], and it is so important for the region”, highlighted José Pimenta Machado.

He also recalled that Portugal was the first European country to have a desalination plant, on the island of Porto Santo, in the Madeira region, which “works well” and is “very important” for the island.

Pimenta Machado visited the rehabilitation of a hydraulic ditch in São João de Loure in Albergaria-a-Velha and the exhibition "Water Resources: History, Society and Knowledge".

The Algarve has been on alert due to drought since February 5th, and the Government has approved a set of measures to restrict consumption, namely a 15% reduction in the urban sector, including tourism, and a 25% reduction in agriculture.

In addition to these measures, there are others such as combating losses in supply networks, the use of treated water to irrigate green spaces, streets and golf courses or the suspension of the granting of titles for the use of water resources.

The Government has already admitted to increasing the level of restrictions, declaring a state of environmental emergency or calamity, if the measures now implemented are insufficient to address water scarcity in the region.