The commission's position was announced in a statement, on the eve of the meeting of the Southern Zone Regional Subcommittee of the Albufeiras Management Commission, to assess the situation of water resources in the Algarve.

CSHA, which represents over 1,000 producers, operators and associations in the Algarve agricultural sector, considers that the forecast for storage of surface water in the Algarve basins has already been “exceeded”, with the region “having sufficient water levels for the coming years.”

“Taking into account that a justification was never presented for the difference between the cuts for agriculture and the other sectors […], CSHA will only accept what it has always defended, a cut in water consumption of 15% for all sectors ”.

The commission said it expected that at Tuesday's meeting - in which the main agents linked to water use will participate - the values of the cuts in force since January will be updated, of 15% for the urban sector and tourism and 25% for agriculture.

“We also expect that, at this meeting, a proposal will be presented for groundwater management legislation that allows for the creation of associations of established producers and users of each aquifer”, the note reads.

At the same time, CSHA said that it “would like to hear” the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) announce the increase in the volume of water, to be transferred from the Funcho dam to the Arade dam, in the western Algarve.

“We believe that only by implementing these measures will it be possible to contribute to the sustainable management of water resources and guarantee the efficient supply of water to agriculture, priorities assumed by this Government”, concludes the CSHA note.

According to the Government, the meeting of the Regional Subcommittee of the South Zone of the Reservoir Management Commission, scheduled for Tuesday, precedes the meeting of the Permanent Commission for Prevention, Monitoring and Follow-up of the Effects of Drought, which should take place by the 10th of May, in Faro.

The meeting will be chaired by the ministers of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, where new decisions on the management of water resources in the Algarve will be coordinated.

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