The Porto Metropolitan Area (AMP) and the Portuguese Agency for the Environment (APA) signed a technical and financial collaboration protocol to develop actions meant to raise awareness of the efficient and rational use of water.

The Metropolitan Water Saving Plan aims to improve and rationalise the use of water by carrying out actions to raise awareness of the need to adopt behaviours that save and value water with a view to its efficient and sustainable use, acting preventively to combat the scarcity of this resource.

The Metropolitan Water Saving Plan is the result of an application submitted to the Portuguese Agency for the Environment (APA), which will support it with around €560,000, out of a budget of five million euros from the Environmental Fund, with each municipality contributing with €5,000. The Porto Metropolitan Area (AMP) was the only inter-municipal organisation to submit this application.

Within this plan, in addition to awareness-raising activities among the population and schools, there are also plans to implement a pilot project for sustainable, automatic irrigation with a humidity meter, as well as the creation of a technical manual of best practices with a methodology common to the 17 municipalities of the AMP, but adaptable to the reality of each one.

The Metropolitan Plan for Promoting the Efficient Use of Water included the following actions:

Action 1. Direct awareness-raising actions on the beaches during the bathing season, with the distribution of leaflets and allusive gifts.

Action 2. Support to pilot projects for sustainable irrigation in all AMP municipalities.

Action 3. Creation of a manual of best practices in public gardens, in partnership with the University of Porto.

Action 4. Promotion of the “saving water, winning the future” ideas competition in secondary schools.

Action 5. Organisation of a themed conference on the efficient use of water.

Action 6. Awareness-raising activities in primary schools at the start of the school year.

Action 7. Media spots calling for efficiency and showing best practices.