Greek islands face water crisis as tourist season peaks

The biggest reservoir on the Greek island of Naxos has dried up, useful only to the turtles that cruise its muddy shallows. Downstream, seawater has seeped into empty irrigation wells, harming the island's prized potato crop.

Further south, on Karpathos island, authorities have imposed restrictions on topping up swimming pools, while in the northern island of Thasos, officials are seeking a desalination unit to make seawater drinkable.

Most of Greece has seen little or no rain in months. Now, as the country's islands prepare to host a record number of summer tourists, the strain on water supplies has rarely been heavier, officials, farmers and scientists said.

"There has been an intense shortage of rainfall across the Mediterranean and, on Naxos particularly, our surface reservoirs are empty," said the island's mayor, Dimitris Lianos.

Millions of...