NOBODY can complain about the Agriculture Ministry’s decision to put an end to water supply cuts endured by all over the last couple of years. It was not easy, especially during the summer months, when demand was high and houses in some areas were left without water for days because of a variety of problems caused by the supply interruptions. In the end, people adapted to the new conditions by installing additional water tanks, putting on their washing machines at night and using the dishwasher more sparingly.
Conditions have changed thanks to the heavy rainfall of the last few months and we will now have running water continuously. Reservoirs are now at almost 50 per cent of capacity, compared to 7.7 per cent this time last year. With a fifth desalination plant in the Paphos area nearing completion, Water Board officials estimated that we have enough water to last us until the end of 2011. By then, an Electricity Authority desalination plant will also be operational.
However, nobody can dare claim that this is the end of water cuts in Cyprus, given the experiences of the past. We thought the era of a continuous water supply had arrived during the Clerides presidency, with the completion of two desalination plants – but we were proved wrong. Even in 2004, reservoirs were at full capacity again, but thanks to bad decisions by the authorities, who somehow ruled out the possibility of drought and cancelled the construction of another desalination plant, water cuts were on the agenda again by the end of 2007.
Have those who manage our water resources learned something from the unjustifiable mistakes of the past, or are again guilty of complacency? The cautious approach would have dictated that they waited another month or two – to make sure we will have enough water for the next two years – before lifting the restrictions and prepared plans on how the supplies would be allocated.
For instance, has a decision been taken on how water will be allocated to the farming sector and will the authorities stick to it? In the past, as soon as the farmers put a little pressure on the government, they were given bigger supplies of water to waste on their uneconomical crops. This was how the healthy reserves of 2004, which should have lasted for five years if properly managed, were squandered in only three. Farmers invariably get their way.
Perhaps things will be different this time. In one respect, the government has learnt something from past mistakes and has continued its advertising campaign aimed at cultivating a water-saving conscience among the public. This should continue because full reservoirs and more desalination plants are not excuses for wasting water.
