"The Algarve's urban water tariffs are, on average, 15 to 17% lower than the national average. In a region of [water] scarcity (...), having cheaper water than in areas of abundance is a gross error of analysis", said the former president of the APA, who left office at the end of January after about 12 years in office.

Nuno Lacasta was speaking at a debate on the water crisis in the Algarve promoted by the Order of Economists - Algarve Regional Delegation, held in Faro.

For the university professor and consultant in environment and sustainability, maintaining the prices currently charged for supply services in the urban sector, which includes tourism, means "giving an obvious economic incentive for people not to save water".

According to Nuno Lacasta, this is one of three "dysfunctions", in economic terms, that he finds in the analysis of the issue of water scarcity in the Algarve.

The other two dysfunctions are the existence of second meters, normally used to water gardens or fill swimming pools and which have a more favourable tariff, and the use of drinking water for irrigation.

"How is it possible to spend drinking water on irrigation", he asked, adding: "We are spending money from our taxes to depollute and clean water for drinking. And yet we use this water to water green spaces or wash cars".

Nuno Lacasta also criticized the level of water losses in the Algarve's public supply, "between 20 to 40 percent, depending on each municipality", considering that the country has been "complacent" with the situation and has slept "in the shade of the banana tree", despite the heavy investment made in the sector in recent decades.

The former president of the Portuguese Environment Agency considered that the region "cannot waste" the 240 million euro investment plan, with funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), and defended the construction of a second desalination plant, in addition to the one planned for Albufeira.

"The rains in March gave us eight months. But the Cape Town moment did not disappear because it rained in February and March", he said, in an allusion to the water crisis that the South African city went through in 2018, almost leading to a total cut in water supply, the so-called 'day zero'.

The Algarve's dams currently have 6.6 more cubic hectometres (hm3) of water than in the same period last year, standing at 45% of their total capacity, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) revealed this week.

Despite the rains recorded in the first months of the year and during the Easter period having improved reserves in the region, the environmental authorities have been warning that the drought situation remains in the Algarve and it is necessary to continue to adopt consumption control measures.

The Algarve has been on drought alert since 5 February, with the Government having approved a set of consumption restriction measures, namely a 15% reduction in the urban sector, including tourism, and 25% in agriculture.

In addition to these measures, there are others such as combating losses in supply networks, using treated water to irrigate green spaces, streets and golf courses, or suspending the allocation of water resource use titles.

The Government has already admitted raising the level of restrictions, declaring a state of environmental emergency or calamity, if the measures now implemented are insufficient to cope with the water scarcity in the region.

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