According to the Department of Water Management, Cyprus’s reservoirs are still only a quarter full, despite heavy rains that have hit some areas of the island over the past two weeks.

Currently, the total volume of reservoirs in Cyprus is 73.6 million cubic meters of water — 25.3% of the total capacity, which is slightly more than half of the figure recorded at the same time last year, when the reservoirs had 137 million cubic meters of water, that is, at that time they were filled by 47.1%.

If you look at the regions, the best situation is with the reservoirs in Paphos. Now they are 30.2 percent full, although a year ago they were 55.2 percent full.

Reservoirs in the Polis Chrysochous area are currently 23.3% full, which is less than half of the 49% recorded last year, while the biggest difference is recorded in the Nicosia area, where reservoirs are currently only 8.9% full, which is just over one-sixth of last year’s figure. 47.4%.

Reservoir performance for most of the year was significantly lower than last year, prompting Elena Fonicarida, a senior engineer at the Department of Water Resources Development, to announce in August that five seawater desalination plants in Cyprus were still operating at full capacity. According to her, this reduces the need to purify and use water from reservoirs.

She added that the government developed its current “water distribution scenario” in April, and that the scenario provides for various scenarios and will distribute water to those who need it from various sources in Cyprus, depending on its availability.

“Strict adherence to the scenario is the main tool for rational management of available volumes of water,” she said.

As for water consumption by the population, she noted that there is a “slight increase” compared to last year. According to her, this may be due to a number of factors, including the growing population of Cyprus, a decrease in the number of vacations abroad among residents of the island and rising temperatures.

Taking this into account, she said that in the first seven months of the year, a total of 23.3 million cubic meters of water were used for irrigation, which is 3.5 percent more than in 2022, but it is expected that the relative amount of water used for irrigation will decrease over time due to restrictions on water supply introduced since May.

According to her, this will lead to a chain reaction in the form of a decrease in the harvest in autumn. She also said that the water supply to year-round crops and greenhouses has “significantly decreased.”

A source: cyprus-mail.com

https://cyprusbutterfly.com.cy/news/v-vodoxranilishhax-kipra-deficzit-vodyi