The amount of stored water in reservoirs currently stands at 138 million cubic meters (MCM), which corresponds to a 47% storage rate, compared to 69% in the same period last year, Senior Executive Engineer at the Water Development Department Yianna Economidou told CNA.
This year, she said, we are experiencing a dry spell with low water inflows. “Things are definitely not good and that is why we are assessing the water balance on a continuous basis with the aim of optimally allocating available water resources from government water projects for all uses,” she said.
She also noted that, “every year, to make sure that water is allocated properly and wisely, we prepare and implement the annual water allocation scenario with the basic principle of fully meeting water supply needs without any cutbacks.”
Therefore, she added, water supply for this and next summer is not at risk. “We will have to limit the quantities allocated for agricultural purposes due to reduced supplies and we are also promoting a number of
measures to inform farmers, especially to promote improved irrigation practices with emphasis on improved irrigation systems and precision irrigation while promoting maximum utilisation of reclaimed water, which also contributes to increased agricultural production due to the nutrients contained in it,” she noted.
Our message to the public, continued Economidou, is that we should all work together. “The Water Department’s concern may be the sustainable development and management of water resources, but the proper use and conservation of water is an issue that concerns each of us individually,” she said.
“And for this reason, cultivating water consciousness is a continuous concern of the Water Development Department to give important messages on proper use and conservation of water. We urge the public to use this scarce resource in Cyprus sparingly,” she added.
According to Economidou, main dams currently contain 137 MCM of water, namely 47% of their total capacity, which stands at 291 MCM.
According to me
asurements, the quantity stored in the largest dams such as Kouris is 46,962 MCM or 40.8% of total capacity, in Kalavasos 5,175 (30. 3%), in Lefkara 8,726 (63%), in Dipotamos 6,617 (42.7%), in Germasoyeia 6,703 (49.7%), in Asprokremmos 29,105 (55.6%), in Evretou 13,113 (54.6%), followed by other smaller dams.
Asked about the possibility of water supply cuts during the summer, Economidou said that “our goal is to fully meet the water supply needs and we can achieve this goal by operating the five desalination plants that we have at our disposal and which are fully operational so that we can meet our drinking water needs.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency
