In the third week of March, storage per river basin is only lower than the average months of March between 1990/91 and 2023/24 in the Ave, Mira and Ribeiras do Barlavento basins.

According to data released today on the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) website, in the last week, marked by the Martinho depression, all river basins have seen an increase in storage volume. From 17 March to today there has been an increase of 3.7%, equivalent to 493 cubic hectometres (hm3).

With the rains that fell in March, today no dam is marked in red, which means that there is no dam on the mainland with less than 20% of its capacity, and only one with less than 40%, the Monte da Rocha reservoir, in the Sado river basin, which is at 37%.

At the end of January, Monte da Rocha was at 13% of its capacity, alongside two other problematic reservoirs in terms of storage, both in the Algarve: Arade at 17% and Bravura at 14%.

Today the Arade dam is at 59%, with an increase of 39% in the last week alone, and Bravura at 56%, with an increase of 12%.

Of the monitored reservoirs, the APA's weekly bulletin specifies that there are five that currently have a capacity between 51 and 60%, eight between 61 and 80%, and 66, the vast majority, with a capacity between 81 and 100%.

With the heavy rains of recent weeks, the total volume of water storage on the continent is now at 92%, 12,165 hm3, for a total capacity of 13,299 hm3.

In terms of river basins, it is also worth highlighting that the Vouga basins are 99% full and the Tagus basins are 97%. In the Tagus basin, there are several dams that are completely full, and the same is true of the Guadiana, whose basin is also at 97% of its capacity. Alqueva is at 97%.

In the Douro basin, the Alijó, Serra Serrada and Vilar Tabuaço reservoirs have reached their limit, although the others are also close to 100%, and in the Sado basin there are also reservoirs at 100% capacity.

In the eastern Algarve, the Beliche and Odeleite reservoirs are also almost at their limit.