LISBON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Over half of Portugal's reservoirs are at least 80 percent full after heavy rainfall in March, Portugal's National System for Water Resource Information (SNIRH) announced on Monday.
Of the 60 reservoirs monitored by SNIRH, 32 are at 80 percent or more capacity. Only three are below 40 percent, compared to 23 in that state last month.
According to the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), 84 percent of mainland Portugal was suffering from severe drought at the end of February.
The IPMA has yet to correlate the month's data, but heavy rainfall in March has changed the picture dramatically.
The Alentejo, traditionally one of the driest regions in Portugal, received more rain in the first five days of March than it would normally expect to see in the whole of the month.
The Monto Novo reservoir, one of the region's largest, went from below 30 percent capacity on February 28 to full by March 10.
Prior to March's downpour Portugal's agriculture sector had been bracing itself for an unproductive year.
But last week Minister for Agriculture Capoulas Santos said Portugal's soil and reservoirs had now received enough rain to ensure a regular agricultural season.
Brimming reservoirs were also a boon to the renewable energy sector. According to a National Energy Grid (REN) report, also released on Monday, 80 percent of the electricity consumed in Portugal in March came from renewable energy thanks to a surge in hydroelectric output.
REN told the Jornal de Negocios business newspaper that March had provided the best hydropower conditions since 1971, the year it began keeping records.
