Guides
Sinking a Water Borehole in Portugal
When a borehole or well needs only a notice to APA and when it needs an authorisation, the 5 cv pump rule, the 100 metre spacing, and the fines.
Water
News
Almada Bans All Garden Watering as Record Consumption Drains the Town's Water Reserves
Almada is prohibiting all public and private garden watering to refill reservoirs drained by weeks of supply failures and record summer demand. Mayor Ines de Medeiros says two new boreholes and a ban on irrigation should restore breathing room within two to three weeks; regulators are probing illici
News
Portugal and Spain Strike a First Binding Flow Deal for the Lower Guadiana, Securing the Pomarão Intake for the Algarve
Lisbon and Madrid have agreed the lower Guadiana's first binding flow regime in a new protocol to the 1998 Albufeira Convention, fixing how the shared river is divided at Pomarão and clearing the way for a water intake the drought-hit Algarve has long counted on.
Government
Friday's Conselho de Ministros Wraps Three Consumer-Facing Decrees Into One Sitting — Diretiva 2020/2184 Drinking-Water Transposition, Cross-Modal Passenger-Rights Statute and the New DGDCCS Replace the DG do Consumidor in a Single Agenda Block
Friday 29 May's Conselho de Ministros wrapped three consumer-facing decrees into one sitting: a complementary Diretiva 2020/2184 water-quality transposition, a cross-modal passenger-rights statute and the merger of the DGC into the new Direção-Geral da Defesa do Consumidor (DGDCCS).
Guides
Setting Up Water in Portugal
How to put the water contract in your name in Portugal: finding your water company, documents, meter readings, social tariffs, and moving out.
Environment
APA Eases Groundwater-Drilling Ban Across Most Algarve Water Bodies, the Moura-Ficalho Aquifer and the Left Bank of the Tejo-Sado — Faro Plain and Coastal Salt-Intrusion Zones Stay Frozen
The Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente has partially lifted its moratorium on new groundwater drillings (furos de água) across most of the Algarve, the Moura-Ficalho aquifer and the left bank of the Tejo-Sado basin. The Faro Plain subsystem and coastal salt-intrusion prevention zones stay frozen.
News
Fishermen and Albufeira's Mayor Form a Human Chain at Praia da Rocha Baixinha — €108M PRR Desalination Plant Faces Off Against the Algarve Coast as Construction Set to Start Next Week
Around 100 fishermen and Albufeira mayor Rui Cristina formed a human chain Saturday against the €108M PRR desalination plant. Construction starts next week; intake and brine outfall in consultation until 11 May.