Water resources

In a bid to better manage Türkiye's water resources, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has initiated a project to create digital atlases mapping a total of 270 stagnant water bodies, including dams and artificial ponds currently being constructed.

These water resources will be digitized in a geographic information system (GIS) center.

A scientist has warned that the water level in the dams of Bodrum, a touristic district in the western province of Muğla, reached an alarming capacity of 16% due to rainfall shortages and rising temperatures.

With an average daily water consumption of 3 million cubic meters, Istanbul has dams that are 70 percent full, but underground resources are still insufficient, warns an expert.

Professor Dr. İrfan Yolcubal of Istanbul Technical University explained that there are 25 water basins in Türkiye and that the Marmara Water Basin, which covers Istanbul, is considered "water poor" today.

In pursuit of the effective management and utilization of water resources, a National Water Board has been established under the leadership of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

With the summer season at its peak, the problem of drought in the country has come to the fore once again as the water level of three major dams meeting the water needs of Istanbul has dropped by 5 percent, with one of them almost completely covered with grass.

Droughts of different intensities are observed in all basins in Türkiye, an Agriculture and Forestry Ministry official has said.

Groundwater sources in Turkey are burdened and critically decreasing due to faulty agricultural practices, unplanned cities and uncontrolled population, according to a water report.

The report was prepared by the Water Policies Association, using the data of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry.

Population growth, industrialization and climate change are putting intense pressure on the planet's limited water supplies, and Turkey is expected to feel the impacts in the near future, an official from the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has said.

A toxic combination of decreasing rainfall, the abandonment of rural areas and an increase in water consumption over the past few decades has resulted in more than half the island of Cyprus being in immediate danger of desertification. Just 1.5 percent of the land area - the ridge of the Troodos mountain range - is not deemed to be at any such risk.

Without reforms, the world will be plunged into a water crisis that could be crippling for hot, dry countries, the United Nations warned March 20.

In an annual report, the U.N. said abuse of water was now so great that on current trends, the world will face a 40-percent "global water deficit" by 2030 -- the gap between demand for water and replenishment of it.