Water scarcity

The government is establishing a "Water Efficiency Management System" to address water stress Türkiye is facing, Agriculture Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has said.

Drilling more wells seems to be the most common response to the water shortages Greece has been experiencing in recent years, and especially so this summer, when scarcity reached alarming levels in many parts of the country. How right is this, however, for a country that only recently obtained a proper record of its active wells and boreholes?

Cyprus is grappling with a severe water shortage as the ongoing drought pushes the country's dam capacity to worryingly low levels. According to Yianna Economidou, senior executive engineer at the Water Development Department, the dams are currently at just 27% capacity, down from 49% at this time last year, with levels continuing to drop due to a lack of rainfall.

Greece is grappling with severe water shortages, particularly on its islands and experts are debating different solutions, with some advocating for desalination and others for dams.

Amidst growing concerns about water scarcity, the Greek government has devised a five-pillar plan aimed at addressing this critical issue. The most ambitious of these plans involves transferring water from the artificial Kremasta Lake by connecting it to the Evinos and Mornos reservoirs, which supply the Attica region.

The public water company (EYDAP) announced the launch of an ambitious project to draw water through tunnels from two rivers in Evrytania, central Greece, to fill the artificial lake Evinos.

Officials from nine southern European Union countries have pledged to work together to develop more water-saving technologies in agriculture as the prospect of worsening droughts puts additional strain on farmers and threatens food security.

The government is launching a package of measures to preserve the long-term viability of Greek tourism, and to address issues caused by the growing number of visitors, which has already reached a new high.

The matter is expected to be broached by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the forthcoming Thessaloniki International Fair.

The alarm about the decline of water resources in the country due to climate change, which she describes as extremely serious and constantly worsening, has been sounded by Elisabeth Feloni, professor of hydrology at the University of West Attica