According to the weekly reservoir bulletin, published by the APA on Tuesdays with data from the previous Monday, of the 75 reservoirs monitored in mainland Portugal, 49 (+3) had a storage volume between 81% and 100%.
Twelve reservoirs (-1) had capacity between 61% and 80%, three (-1) were in the middle (51% to 60%), four had almost half their capacity (between 41% and 50%), seven continued with 21% to 40% of the total volume stored and three were at less than 20% of their capacity.
The Campilhas and Monte da Rocha reservoirs, both in the Sado hydrographic basin, with, respectively, 11% and 10% of their capacity, and Bravura, in the Western Algarve, with 12% of the total volume stored remain in a critical situation.
“On January 9, 2023 and compared to the previous bulletin (January 2, 2023), there was an increase in the volume stored in all river basins and a decrease in 3”, states the Portuguese Environment Agency.
The APA also reports that, of the monitored reservoirs, 63%
have water availability greater than 80% of the total volume and 13% have
availability below 40% of the total volume.
According to the APA, the Vouga basins recorded the highest
water storage on Monday (95.3%), followed by the Douro (93.49), Tejo (93%), Ave
(92 .5%), Lima (90.8%), Guadiana (86%) and Mondego (81.25).
The watersheds of Barlavento Algarvio (11.10%), Mira
(36.9%), Arade (41.7%) and Alentejo (43.4%) were the ones with the least water
on Monday.
The weekly reservoir bulletin also states that storage in the first week of January 2023, by river basin, "shows higher than the averages" recorded in January between 1990 and 2022, except for the Sado, Mira, Arade, Ribeiras do Barlavento and Ribeiras do Sotavento.
if you want the hot dry weather, it comes with sporadic rain. Enjoy your coming summer South coast.
By Ian from Beiras on 14 Jan 2023, 07:10