Almost all dams in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo ended the month of August with more water than they had in the same month in 2020, according to data from the National Water Resources Information System.
The rain that has fallen since the beginning of the hydraulic year, which started in October of last year, helped the levels of the different reservoirs to rise in both regions. Even so, rainfall was not enough to guarantee good filling levels in the Algarve and Alentejo dams, with some even reaching worryingly low levels.
Starting with the Algarve, the Odeleite dam currently has 50,9% of its total capacity, compared to 33,4% last year.
Next door, in Beliche, the increase is also significant: the dam has 42,9% of its capacity and, in 2020, the data showed 26,3%.
Odelouca, the largest dam in the Algarve, is currently at 60,6% of its total capacity, compared to 52,3% a year ago.
In the Fennel reservoir, the percentage of stored water rose to 80,7 (55,3% in August 2020).
The only dam with data lower than last year is the Arade dam. In this reservoir, the existing volume currently represents 32,8% of the total capacity, when, in the past, the data was 34,3%.
At the Bravura Dam, the rise was not very significant – 20% now, 18,3% a year ago. That is, in either case, worryingly low levels.
Moving on to Baixo Alentejo, the situation is a little better. It's just that all the dams, in this vast territory, have more water stored than in the past.
Starting with Alqueva - the largest artificial lake in Western Europe -, the current percentage stands at 77%, when in the past it was 60,4%.
In the municipality of Ourique, there is also good news with the very significant increases in the dams of Monte Miguéis (71% this year, 16% in 2020), Monte Gato (from 13,4% to 82,4%) and Monte da Rocha ( from 9,1% to 20,4%).
In Odemira, the two reservoirs also have more water: the Santa Clara Dam was, at the end of August, with 44,7% of its maximum capacity, a little more than the 42% of last year, while the Corte Brique dam has 54,6% (in 2020 it was 38%).
As for the Roxo reservoir (Aljustrel), it rose slightly from 18,4% (2020) to 19% this year.
Finally, the Odivelas Dam, in the municipality of Alvito, is currently at 39,2% of its capacity, a low percentage, but still higher than last year's 32,3%.
Moreover, at national level, the storages in August this year, by river basin, are higher than the average storage in August (1990/91 to 2019/20), except for the Lima basins.
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