According to Maria da Graça Carvalho, the decision is due to the “significant recovery” in seven bodies of groundwater, seen in the basins of the Algarve’s western and eastern rivers, the Arade basin, Luz de Tavira, São Brás de Alportel, Peral, Moncarapacho and São Bartolomeu.

According to the minister, the lifting of restrictions will cover an agricultural area of ​​around 60 thousand hectares, excluding the Querença/Silves aquifer, “which will maintain the restriction on abstraction because it has not recovered as much”.

The revelation was made by Maria da Graça Carvalho at a press conference in Faro, after the signing of the protocol “Água que Une - Studies for the evaluation of water potential in the Algarve river basins”, signed between the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Association of Beneficiaries of the Sotavento Irrigation Plan.

Maria da Graça Carvalho also said that the APA will “review the titles for capturing groundwater upwards throughout the Algarve in light of new plantations and also update the areas, which has not been done for a long time.” However, she warned that the drought situation in the Algarve “will be reviewed at the next meeting of the commission, taking into account the forecasts of a very hot summer.”

“This is a situation that is reviewed every two months and is being monitored, and we will have to be very cautious,” she warned. The governor recalled that retaining water in dams “is only very useful if it rains because if there are many years without rain, we need to be extra careful.” However, she said, it is necessary to continue to combat waste and save water, maintaining the 5% restriction on water consumption for all sectors: urban, tourism, agriculture and golf.

According to Maria da Graça Carvalho, the Algarve's reservoirs currently have 372 cubic hectometres of stored water, which corresponds to 83% of their capacity, an increase of 196 cubic hectometres compared to the same month in 2024.