Closing the municipal swimming pools during the month of August and reducing irrigation days were some of the measures taken this Friday, July 15, during the meeting between the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the mayors of the Algarve to face the severe period of drought that the region is going through.
In addition to August, the pools may also close throughout the month of September (with the exception of pools open in more inland territories).
The closure of ornamental fountains (only safeguarding the minimum time necessary for their maintenance), the reduction of irrigation days, and the cessation of irrigation of public green spaces with lawns reconverted by native species and with lower water availability requirements make also part of the decisions taken at the meeting of the Intermunicipal Council of AMAL (Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve) with Pedro Coelho, regional director of APA.
«This was a meeting that reinforced the need for each municipality to make its population aware of the seriousness of the problem and the urgency of reducing water consumption», says AMAL.
According to António Pina, president of AMAL, «if the next hydrological year is the same, water may even run out of taps in the Algarve, in October 2023».
In a press release, AMAL recalls that, in consultation with municipalities, municipal companies and concessionaires for the operation and management of public water distribution services, it is investing in the active control of water losses and in the rehabilitation of infrastructures, in a measures included in the Algarve Regional Water Efficiency Plan, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR).
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