LISBON - A long-lasting drought threatens to disrupt water supplies for 10 percent of Portugal's roughly 10 million residents this year if it continues, according to a study published Tuesday in the daily newspaper Publico.
The regions most at risk are those in the centre and south of the country which rely mostly on wells instead of dams for their water, according to the study by water-regulator IRAR.
It added that in these localities it may be necessary to ship water from other regions, open new wells and launch public education campaigns that urge water conservation this year if the dry weather continues.
Portugal is suffering its worst drought in decades. The country received an average of 542 millimetres (21.7 inches) of precipitation last year, compared with an average of 930 millimetres (37.2 inches) between 1961 and 1990, national weather office figures show.
The dry weather, which has harmed crops and caused livestock to starve, has continued into 2005, with the country experiencing precipitation levels which were less than 20 percent of normal levels in January.
In January outgoing Environment Minister Luis Guedes ruled out the possibility of the government rationing water in the worst-affected areas, three months after he threatend to ration water in the southernmost province of Algarve if the region did not receive enought rain by the end of 2004.
Tourism industry officials had condemned talk of water rationing, arguing it could frighten visitors away from the Algarve, the nation's main tourist centre.
Environmentalists estimate Portugal wastes some three billion litres (780,000,000 gallons) of water each year.
03/01/2005 16:46 GMT