At the end of January, according to a bulletin on reservoirs released by the State Environmental Agency (APA), with data from Monday, storage per river basin was greater than the average storage for January (from 1990/91 to 2023/ 24) except for the Mondego basins (but almost average), Sado, Mira, Arade and Ribeiras do Barlavento.

In terms of total stored volume, with the rains of the last few days, 77% of capacity was reached on the continent, an increase of 5.5%, corresponding to an additional 725 hm3 (cubic hectometers) between January 23 and 27.

Of 77 monitored reservoirs, 39 have a percentage of stored volume between 81 and 100% and 22 are between 61 and 80%. Five reservoirs are at or above 100% and several others are close to 100%.

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There are 13 reservoirs whose storage varies between 21 and 60% and three remain at less than 20% of capacity: Arade, Algarve, at 17%, Bravura, Algarve, at 14%, and Monte da Rocha, in Alentejo, at 13%.

In the last week, basins with less water increased storage but in low percentages, such as Ribeiras do Barlavento (0.94%), Mira (2.6%) and Arade (2.4%).

In general terms, in the north and centre, most basins have above-average storage. The Ave basin, for example, is at 97.2% when the average for this season is 73.6%. The Tagus basin exceeded 80% when the average is around 74%. It increased by 12% last week and reservoirs are now at 100%.

In the western Algarve and lower Alentejo regions, the situation is quite different. The Mira basin is at 39% (average is 74.7%) and the Barlavento basin is at 14.2%, for an average of 70%. In the Sotavento area, the situation is better, with above-average water storage in the Beliche and Odeleite reservoirs.