AN island-wide end to much-resented water restrictions was announced this week by Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis following a spell of heavy rain that has filled reservoirs to almost 50 per cent capacity.
The decision has no doubt been welcomed by residents and the island’s hapless farming community.
In an official statement on Monday, Polynikis was keen to attribute the abundance of water to the Ministry’s skilful management. “We are close to resolving this lingering problem, particularly as a result of the desalination plants and recent rainfall,” he said.
“We analysed two scenarios of water influx, taking into account the completion of desalination plants and increased demand for consumption (compared to 2007) and we found the system can now meet the water needs with continuous water supply”
Though this is indeed reassuring, the security of the water supply still rests on three things: that the desalination plants don’t break down, that it continues to rain and that water is not wasted, either through domestic users or leakage.
The Water Development Department (WDD) has said the completion of a sixth desalination plant will see 225,000 cubic metres of water produced daily, and that, should one break down, Cyprus could survive with five until it is fixed.
As for rainfall, there is little to do beyond, perhaps, building more churches. At any rate, it seems the spate of droughts in Cyprus is coming to an end.
Andreas Poyiadjis, spokesperson for the Government’s meteorological service, told the Sunday Mail: “This kind of change is normal. The Cyprus weather system goes in ten year cycles, with a dry spell for three to four years, a normal period where figures are close to the average, and a three year very wet period.”
Where the Government can make a difference is in curbing consumption, which is why many were surprised at the decision to widely publicise the end of the ban.
When the ban was temporarily lifted over the Christmas period, consumption increased dramatically.
Sophocles Aletraris WDD Director told the Sunday Mail that comprehensive measures were being taken to reduce waste. “We recognise that a change in mentality and culture is required, and we have launched an awareness campaign.
We plan to visit 800 schools by the end of the year to educate children about the value of water and we will promote the use of recycled water more widely.”
Perhaps their most promising plan is to introduce steep penalties for exceeding quotas. “We are carrying out a coda study to examine severe tariffs for wastage.
This worked well in Athens in 1993 and could be effective here. At the moment we are only discussing it.”
The WDD and the municipalities are also working together to resolve the problem of leaks. George Demetriou, Technical Manager at the Nicosia Water Board, said
“Our loss leakage rate is below 17 per cent: far below the EU average. Our target is to lower this further, and to that end we employ 60 workers”
It seems then that with the comprehensive measures in place, our future water supply is secure. What remains to be seen is the cost of these measures; environmental and financial.
Aletraris is keen to point out that desalination plants account for only five per cent of Cypriot carbon emissions, rising to 10 per cent next year. At the same time, the government has teamed up with MIT to research sustainable, solar powered desalination technology.
As for the financial costs, Demetriou says that a 30 to 40 per cent price increase could be in the pipeline.
