According to data from the National Water Resources Information System (SNIRH) available today, there was an increase in the volume stored in eight river basins in April and a decrease in four.
At the end of April, the Barlavento basin continued to be the one that held the least amount of water, with 22.6% (19.7% at the end of March), when the average is 74.6%.
In February this basin was at 12.5% of its capacity and in January it was at 9.4%.
April 2024 storages by river basin are higher than the storage averages for the same month (reference period 1990/91 to 2022/23), with the exception of the Ave (71.4%), Mira (42 .2%), Ribeiras do Algarve (Barlavento 22.6%) and Arade (44.4%).
On the last day of April, the Oeste (93.2%), Guadiana (93.1%), Tagus (92.3%) and Cávado (91%) basins were those with the highest volume of water.
According to SNIRH, of the 60 monitored reservoirs, 36 had water availability greater than 80% of the total volume at the end of April and three had water availability less than 40%.
Each river basin may correspond to more than one reservoir.
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.
On Wednesday, the Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, admitted easing the cuts in water consumption in the Algarve in force since January in the urban sector and agriculture, with several scenarios on the table, given some improvement in availability of water.
