The inhabitants of 17 municipalities in the Alentejo region will be getting leaflets this week, telling them how to save water as there is a drought.
A campaign slogan, ‘Água. Usando bem, mais gente tem’ ('Water. Using it well means more people will have some') is being promoted by the company Águas Públicas do Alentejo, in partnership with the Association of Municipalities for Public Water Management in the Alentejo.
The hopelessly late-in-the-day initiative aims to "raise awareness about the rational use of water and promote adherence to good practices that can help manage this precious resource, especially in the current drought situation,” according to Águas Públicas do Alentejo which so far has ‘sensitised’ 17 of the 21 municipalities in the Alentejo for which it is responsible.
The campaign will be disseminated through information sent to the householders, and through posters and leaflets distributed to municipal and parish councils. The leaflets advise people to avoid watering their flower and vegetable gardens, as well as asking them to reduce the number of car washes and to stop hosing down their backyards.
In July, almost 79% of mainland Portugal was categorised as being in severe or extreme drought conditions, with the situation worst in the interior of the Alentejo - a fact that will not have gone unnoticed by householders living in the area.
Águas Públicas do Alentejo commented "The country is in drought although there are some municipalities that are more worrisome than others."
"The situation is more critical in the municipalities located farther south that have locations supplied only from groundwater - also the Monte da Rocha dam system, which has no connection to the Alqueva reservoir, which supplies Almodôvar, Ourique and Castro Verde.”
"The rational use of water has to start to be a cultural thing, people have to be concerned on a day to day basis, regardless of the drought," warned the Águas Públicas do Alentejo spokesperson who thought it not the best time to discuss leakage rates.