Turkey’s biggest basin struggles with drought

The Konya Closed Basin, once known as Turkey's "grain warehouse," is fighting drought due to improper irrigation activities and uncontrolled agriculture.

The annual consumption of water in the basin was 4.5 billion cubic meters, while annual consumption reached 6.5 billion cubic meters.

Speaking about the condition of the basin and the efficient use of water in the region, Nevzat Özer from the TEMA Foundation, Turkey's largest and leading environmental NGO, said that society is always in need of water, and therefore civilizations are developing in the water basins.

Stressing that ecology collapses and societies are dispersed in cases where soil and water are used incorrectly, Özer said that the lands and forests lost in the country and the wetlands that were dried are tiring Anatolia.

Recalling that there are 25 river basins in Turkey, Özer stated that there are many problems in these regions from pollution to the use of wrong water in agriculture, water competition of the sectors to the mismanagement of water.

Stating that there have been serious reductions in underground water reserves in the past period, Özer underlined that there are decreases of up to 1.5 meters annually in underground water reserves, which are the right of not only today but also future generations.

He said that the Konya Basin, which has the lowest rainfall and considered the riskiest in terms of climate, is one of the basins where the groundwater level decreases.

"The watershed constitutes 7 percent of our country with an area of 5.5 million hectares, and has 17 percent of our underground water potential. However, it is observed that the basin has 2 billion cubic meters of water deficit every year," he noted.

Pointing out that there...