The announcement was made by the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, after a meeting of the commission to monitor the effects of the drought, when a third of the country, especially in the Alentejo and Algarve, is experiencing severe and extreme drought.

Duarte Cordeiro, at a joint press conference with the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Maria do Céu Antunes, said that is has been decided to reduce by 20% the quota of water for agriculture in the Odeleite and Beliche dams, and also reduce by 20 % water used on golf courses.

In the case of golf courses and gardens, when there are alternatives, the cut will be 50%, said Duarte Cordeiro.

The Government has decided to set up a "task force" dedicated to the Algarve, with elements from the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the Directorate-General for Agriculture, among others, to review the titles of use of water resources that were assigned, "to condition the same titles to the installation of equipment for monitoring the consumption of groundwater".

In addition to measuring this consumption, the objective is to reduce the use by 15% of the water in the subterranean bodies of the Algarve, the minister stressed.

The "task force" will have a week to identify the areas of the Algarve where this work of reviewing the titles (authorizations for water abstraction) will begin, explained Duarte Cordeiro, also saying that in the eastern Algarve area, two golf courses are already prepared to use reuse water.

Duarte Cordeiro said that a water consumption moderation campaign will also start in the Algarve, aimed at all consumers, which could be extended to the rest of the country.

The Minister of the Environment did however reaffirm his guarantee that there will be no shortage of water in the taps this year.