NEWSLETTERS

Legislative Amendment to the Water Resources Registration

After the chaos of 2009, and close to the final day deadline, a Council of Ministers Resolution, amended the closing date for the registration of boreholes and fossas (water resources and septic tanks) until 31st May 2010.

The initial registration procedures served as a base for some clarification which was made in Communication no 14872/2009 from the Environment, Home and Regional Development Minister.

This document clarifies the Water Law (and related legislation) in respect to the confusion caused by the water resources registration, indicating the way in which the law should be applied:

Water resources (in this context meaning boreholes and wells), located in certain areas of the Algarve, which capture underground water and which have extraction by pump less than 5 cv, are exempt of any title of use. In those cases, the owner may, if he or she deems fit, communicate voluntarily the existence of the borehole/well to the authority, with the object of protecting their own borehole or well from future adjoining and conflicting ones, and also in order to help achieve a better knowledge of the national water resources.

However, all boreholes/wells in use after the 1st June 2007 (regardless if their means of extraction are below 5 cv) must communicate to the due authorities being the Administração da Região Hidrográfica do Algarve, I.P. (ARH).

Underground water obtained by means that are above 5cv must register and obtain the utilization title (no payment required) regardless of when the borehole was first used.

Please note that the optional communication process requires the same documents and information as a normal registration process itself.

It should be noted that there is a map of the Algarve which shows clearly, by use of a zoom search option, the areas which are sensitive to water extraction and thus require registration.

Therefore, the following requirements need to be verified (in the Algarve) in order to obtain the registration exemption:
A)	The water is obtained by a pump less than 5cv;
B)	The location of the borehole must be outside the cross hatched designated areas as shown on the above referred map.