The public consultation period for the Loulé Municipal Contingency Plan for Drought Periods (PMCPS) takes place between the 28th of April and the 11th of May, an instrument that provides the Municipality with a mechanism to effectively deal with periods of drought, ensuring the reduction of its effects and damages.

At a time when, according to the climate bulletin for the month of March 2022 from the Instituto Português do Mar e Atmosfera, the entire continental territory is experiencing a period of meteorological drought and when the Algarve region is implementing its Plan Regional Water Efficiency, this is a topic that has an increasingly impact on the life of the community.

Loulé's PMCPS includes preparedness, prevention, contingency and adaptation measures, with short, medium and long-term time horizons, which should make the different components of the water use chain more resilient.

In operational terms, the Plan should encourage the updating of the register of hydraulic infrastructures, the georeferencing and renewal of the meter base, the review of the tariff structure, the creation of measurement and control areas and, in times of special severity of the phenomenon, the imposition of restrictions on the consumption of water by the largest consumers and/or the temporary suspension of public facilities.

Given the importance for the daily life of the citizens, the Municipality of Loulé calls for the participation and involvement of everyone in this process of drawing up the Plan, since this is the moment when interested parties can make their contribution, presenting suggestions that enrich this guiding and operational instrument, being able to do so through the Participa Portal (https://participa.pt/pt/consulta/plano-municipal-de-contingencia-para-periodos-de-seca-do-municipio-de-loule).

It should be noted that over the last few years, Loulé is one of the Portuguese municipalities most committed to combating climate change, in line with the 2030 Agenda. The Loulé Municipality has sought to promote, throughout the municipal territory, a coherent response to the multiple issues related to this matter, an example being the Loulé Municipal Climate Action Plan, approved at the Loulé Municipal Assembly on February 7, 2022. This document is already a national reference and it also contains the responses to the period of drought, through the implementation of the PMCPS as one of its priority actions.

This document has already been subject to a first moment of internal consultation by the services of the Municipality, as well as by the entities of the Local Council for Monitoring Climate Action with direct competences in the matter.