“If it doesn’t rain in November and December, we will have to start rationing water”, warned the president of the Regional Centre of the Algarve of Quercus, Claúdia Sil.

Cláudia Sil told Lusa News Agency: “The most important measure at the moment in the Algarve is the suspension of emissions of licences for the use of water resources. This includes the planting of tropical species that adapt well to the existing climate but that consume a lot of water, something that currently doesn’t exist in the Algarve”.

Cláudia Sil said that “the irrigation of farms and golf courses represent 67 percent of total water consumed” in the region, arguing that “the only way” to control this the “non-issue of licenses”, preventing the use of water for irrigation.

The environmental association highlights the low level of Algarve dams with Bravura below 15 percent, three between 20-30 percent (Odeleite, Arade and Beliche) and only two above 50 percent (Funcho and Odelouca).

The environmentalists consider that “the population has no idea of the risk” and regrets that there is no awareness to take “measures to reduce, save and reuse” water in their homes, “something that has been historically traditional in the Algarve”.