The recent increase in the water concession in the Alqueva/Pedrógão system, from 620 to 730 hm³ annually, was presented as an important step to respond to the growing agricultural and industrial demand. It is, without a doubt, a major advancement and one that would have been unthinkable under the previous government's policies. For this reason, the ministries of Agriculture and Environment deserve congratulations. But the relevant question for a country that has invested billions of euros in a strategic infrastructure is another: is this the optimal level of utilization of the system? Decree No. 423-A/2026 sets the new limit at 730 hm³/year (690 for irrigation and 40 for public and industrial supply), simultaneously imposing a set of safeguards such as the permanent reserve of 120 hm³ to guarantee three years of urban consumption, a contingency plan for drought, and objective hydrological conditionality. Prudence was safeguarded and crystallized in a conservative and cautious ...