Dam good weekend for water reserves

By Andrew Adamides

THE WEEKEND may have been drab and depressing, but some good came out of the miserable weather yesterday when it was announced that water levels in the reservoirs have been boosted again.

At 8am yesterday, the total amount of water behind Cyprus’ dams stood at just under 39 million cubic metres, 14.5 per cent of their total capacity. At this time last year, they held just 33 million cubic metres.

Since Friday, five million cubic metres of water have flowed into the reservoirs. Especially affected were the island’s largest dams, including Kouris, which now has 9 million cubic metres of water in it, Asprokremos with 15 million, Evreto with 5 million and Dipotamous, which now contains

almost 700,000 cubic metres.

Senior water development technician George Socratous said that Cyprus “is in a better position than last year”, but he warned that levels were still on the low side. The five million cubic metres which flowed in at the weekend was the largest single increase for some time, he said.

But the wintry weather wasn’t good news for everyone, as the residents of Polis Chrysochous yesterday counted the cost of a whirlwind which swept through the town just after midnight on Sunday, damaging buildings and uprooting trees. Police, the Fire Brigade and Municipality workers were out in force clearing blocked streets of debris.

Among the buildings damaged were the local gymnasium and the police station, as well as private houses.

Deputy Mayor Andreas Simionides said an emergency council meeting would decide what measures should be taken. The full extent of the damage had not yet been calculated, he said, adding that his house and garden had been among those which had sustained damage.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.