Cyprus to tap emergency water reserves

WITH only five to six months’ supply of water left in the reservoirs, the Agriculture Ministry will begin drilling for reserves in the Troodos region, Minister Photis Photiou said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with water officials, Photiou said there were only 28 million cubic metres of water left, compared with 68 million at the same time last year.

He said the situation had reached such a level the government had decided it was time to tap into the island’s reserves, and to drill for new water supplies in other areas, mainly the mountains and forests.

“There are two or three regions where there are strategic reserves which were to be used in an emergency,” said Photiou. “I believe the time has come. We are in a very difficult period and we feel its time to use these reserves.”

Drilling has already taken place and reserves located in the Stavrovouni, Akaki and Peristerona areas. These have not yet been used.

“Today, we took a decision that the Geological Surveys Department will go ahead with new drillings in areas we have already scientifically researched and where water exists,” Photiou said.

He said these areas included the Macheras forest and Pomos in the Paphos district, where good quantities of water had been located. However, advanced technology would be needed for the drilling, as the water table is deep in the earth.

Photiou said the government would spare no expense to locate new water supplies, and that drilling would start as soon as possible.

The water would then be pumped to the reservoirs.

“The existing 28 million cubic metres of water in the dams will only suffice for five to six months, and we need to consider that with the repercussions from climate change, this will be the situation in Cyprus in the years to come,” said Photiou.

“We as a government have for some time decided on a policy to wean ourselves from our addition to the weather as a water source, and this policy includes desalination units, recycled water and water saving.”

He said, however, that these were longer terms strategies and only the island’s emergency reserves would be able to solve the short-term problem.

“Our water situation is at dangerous levels,” he added.

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.