It is a major concern of the people and the Portuguese authorities.

Water is not an inexhaustible well that is a fact. The water availability is a major concern of the authorities, since it is essential for our survival and for the future generations. It is indispensable in many economic areas, including industry and agriculture, hence it is essential a good management of this precious resource in our country, which does not happen in an very efficient and sustainable way. According to a report titled, "availability of fresh water," from a group of students from the Faculty of Engineering of Porto, "the climate change that our planet has suffered in recent times led to a deterioration of water quality and the reduction of  its availability. In some parts of Portugal the lack of fresh water is already a serious problem. The water is essential because it depends, for example, agriculture and as such, the food production. The trend is that the rate of water stress continues to increase more, ie the demand exceeds the amount of water available for a certain time or its poor quality limits its use. With the prospect that in future the problem of water scarcity has a more serious impact is important that measures are taken towards optimization of the water so that future generations can also enjoy this essential good".

Some of these procedures are also included in the national plan for water (PAN), but are not implemented, "as regards the inclusion of procedures to minimize the effects of drought, it is proposed to carry out a contingency plan for these periods ". Another proposal aimed "preventing and minimizing pollution accidents and the development of contingency plans for action in case of accidental pollution. If reduced, it has a lower level of damage to the aquatic ecosystems, so a greater amount of water available, contributes to the protection of this ecosystems. " The other promotes "the integration of a river system, the naturalization of the beds and banks and clearing of water lines, project valuation of water courses, scenic and environmental points of identification of risk and promotion of their correctness, so it can integrated the conservative measures and the cleaning of water lines. " It should be noted also "the need to rehabilitate the irrigation systems, by building new infrastructure and systems that allow adaptation to different seasons. A no less important, "promoting efficient water use and quality of services in public supply systems and their rational use in the industry, identification and reduction of leakage and elimination of waste and consumption are not counted. The last measure stresses the need for "systematic campaigns of public awareness, by environmental education, training and dissemination of information about water."

http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~projfeup/cd/relatorios/R213.pdf