The Portuguese Government has reduced water consumption cuts in the Algarve to 25%. Initially, according to the contingency plan that was defined because of the drought, the Government was considering 70% and 15% water consumption cuts for the agricultural and urban sectors, respectively.
The values were not definitive, and the agricultural sector found the proportional difference of the cuts to be ‘insulting’.
As a result, the Government agreed to engage in talks with all of the sectors in order to formulate a new plan and reach an agreement.
The two sectors that were mentioned above (agricultural and urban) are under the spotlight because of their high water consumption. Agriculture consumed a total of 135 cubic hectometers, and the urban sector 75 (of which 40% is due to tourism). Notwithstanding, all of them had to be heard.
Consequently, earlier this week, the Portuguese Minister for the Environment announced that the water consumption cut, for the agricultural sector, will be 25%.
Note that, even though new values were announced, the measures have yet to be approved by the relevant entities. Hence, they’re also not definitive.
