*3.2. Scarcity*

Figure 7 presents the evolution of the SI for the Lima and Minho River Basins, displaying both the Portuguese and the Spanish values, respectively, obtained in this study and reported in 2018 PES-MS [20]. As previously mentioned, for the Portuguese Lima river basin part, the period of analysis was from October 1993 to September 2017. For this reason, although the indicator was computed for the period from October 1980 to September 2017 for the Spanish part of the basin, only the period from October 1993 onward was presented.

Considering the period of analysis for each basin, Table 2 presents, for each part of the basins, the number of months of prevalence corresponding to each scarcity stage, as well as the respective percentages, considering the entirety of the respective period of analysis.

Through Figure 7 and Table 2, it is possible to observe that, when compared with the Portuguese part, the Spanish part of the Lima river basin had a greater exposure to scarcity situations. For the period considered (October 1993–September 2017), the Portuguese part only exhibited situations of Normality and Pre-Alert. In contrast, in the Spanish part of the

basin, there was frequent occurrence of the Alert and Emergency statuses, particularly in the last decade of the period (2008–2017).

**Figure 7.** Scarcity Indicator (SI) in (**a**) the Portuguese part (Lima) and the Spanish part (Limia) of the Lima river basin for the period October 1993–September 2017; and in (**b**) the Portuguese part (Minho) and the Spanish part (Miño-Bajo) of the Minho river basin for the period October 1980–September 2017.

**Table 2.** Distribution of the scarcity status in the Portuguese and Spanish parts of the Lima and Minho river basin.


With regard to the Minho river basin, both parts had low exposure to scarcity situations, presenting very few cases falling under the scope of the Alert status, between October 1980

and September 2017. It should also be noted that the Spanish part, throughout the analysis series, presented only one month in Emergency status.
