Investment is considered “important step towards more sustainable future”
The Portuguese government is investing €1 million in a series of campaigns aimed at raising awareness in the Algarve about the importance of efficient water use.
The campaigns, which will be funded by Portugal’s Environmental Fund, will be managed by the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) and regional water company Águas do Algarve (AdA).
With drought still seriously plaguing the region, the Ministry of Environment says in a statement that it hopes that the campaigns will make a “significant difference in the management of the region’s water resources”.
This funding from the Environmental Fund is considered “crucial” in helping to “change behaviours and promote efficient use of water resources,” which remain worryingly scarce due to the region’s ongoing drought situation.
Quoted in the ministry statement, Portugal’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, stresses that “drought is an increasingly present reality in the Algarve, and raising public awareness is essential to change behaviours and ensure the efficient management of regional water resources.”
Promoting these awareness campaigns is considered an “important step towards a more sustainable future for the region,” the minister says, adding that they will also help empower communities to face the “challenges of drought.”
As part of these campaigns, educational activities will be carried out at schools, “informative materials” will be produced for the public and events will be organised.
Educational activities will run until November 2025, involving around 1,500 participants, including students, teachers, and volunteers from 10 schools in the Algarve, with the collaboration of 20 public and private entities.
“This agreement is not just an administrative contract, but a commitment to the future of the environment. The actions defined in this plan have the potential to transform how the community in the Algarve perceives and uses its water resources,” the minister argues.
As Lusa news agency points out, the Algarve is one of the regions in Portugal most affected by drought, with several projects and investments underway to help the region tackle the problem. The goal is to increase water reserves in the Algarve and preserve existing resources as much as possible, while also safeguarding economic activities that rely on water, such as tourism and agriculture.
The lack of water in the Algarve became so serious that the previous government, led by the Socialist Party (PS), imposed a series of water consumption restrictions in the region, which mainly affected agriculture. But after winter and spring’s rainfall saw water levels increase at the Algarve’s reservoirs and aquifers, the current PSD government eased the restrictions that had been imposed. Nonetheless, it still warned that “drought was not over” and that measures would continue being taken to address it.
