Cyprus appeals to residents to cut water use by two minutes a day amid drought | Cyprus

Authorities in Cyprus have called on residents to reduce their water intake by 10% – the equivalent of two minutes of running water every day – as Europe’s south-easternmost country grapples with a once-in-a-century drought.

The appeal, announced alongside a €31 million (£27 million) package of emergency measures, comes as reservoirs have reached record levels before the start of the tourist season and there is little prospect of replenishment.

“Everyone needs to reduce their consumption,” said Eliana Tofa Christidou, who heads the country’s water development department. “Whether you’re showering, brushing your teeth, or using the washing machine. Times are critical and now every drop counts.”

It was the Mediterranean island’s worst drought in memory, with dam flows at their lowest level since hydrological records first began in 1901, he told the Guardian. Large areas of land were dried out across the country, with significant forest areas rapidly drying out and disappearing.

While other parts of Europe have been hit by rain this winter, the sight of St Nicholas church at the Kouris reservoir, where water levels have reportedly fallen to just 12.2% of capacity, was further evidence of the worsening crisis.

If the reservoir were filled, the monument would be flooded. The emergence of a network of 110 reservoirs, by far the largest in the region, revealed the extent of the emergency. Water reserves in February accounted for 13.7% of total storage capacity, compared to 26% at this time last year, a figure that officials described as dire at the time.

And the situation could get much worse in the EU member state with the highest water shortage. Temperatures in the region are rising 20 percent faster than the global average during the climate crisis, according to data analysis by the Mediterranean Growth Initiative platform. “This accelerating warming is putting serious pressure on rapidly drying freshwater resources,” he says.

Increasing demand has worsened the island’s situation: annual rainfall has fallen by an estimated 15% since 1901, while water needs have increased by 300% due to population growth and tourism. Each year, three million tourists, almost three times the resident population of Cyprus, visit the internationally recognized south of the war-torn country.

Tofa said that a public awareness campaign will be launched this month to save water. “The average water consumption per person in Europe is 120 liters per person per day, but in some parts of Cyprus we have an average water consumption of 500 liters per person per day because it is much warmer,” he said.

“We are preparing guidelines, a campaign to show people how much water they should use for household activities such as showering, so that consumption can be kept at around 140 liters per person per day.”

The drive will support other measures such as wastewater reuse and the elimination of water leaks, which are common in up to 40% of local networks. Households will also receive financial support to invest in water-saving tap devices.

The latest emergency package is the sixth package to be announced. Cyprus has made water scarcity a priority of its EU presidency and allocated €200 million to improve infrastructure; The government is trying to establish desalination plants to meet drinking water needs.

Two portable desalination units were donated by the United Arab Emirates last year. “Our plan is to put 14 units into operation, most of them by the end of 2026,” Tofa said. “Working 24/7, we completed two installations in a few months last year.”

But criticism is also increasing. “The right measures were not taken at the right time,” said Charalampos Theopemptou, a member of the Ecologists Movement – ​​Citizens’ Cooperation Party and chairman of the environment committee of the Cypriot parliament. “Twenty years ago, when scientists predicted that temperatures in Nicosia would be on par with those in Cairo in 2030 and Bahrain in 2045, we all knew what was coming.”

He said desalination plants are not only costly but also risky. “They require a lot of energy and pose a danger to marine life if the salt water returned to the sea is not distributed properly. We should have found ways to reduce water demand much earlier. It is a shame, for example, that public spaces are still covered with grass and we have so many swimming pools and golf courses.”

Symbol of this explosive situation, farmers most affected by the measures were instructed to reduce irrigation by 30%. “Farmers are not on their own,” said Lambros Achilleos, a prominent unionist. “There’s a lot of anxiety and depression; many are being told to switch to new, less water-intensive crops. How do you tell that to farmers in their 50s and 60s who have families to do this? There’s going to be a huge problem in society, and it’s all going to happen because successive governments haven’t taken actions that could have prevented all of this and protected the environment long ago.”

Fadi Comair, professor of applied hydrology and water resources management at the Cyprus Institute in Nicosia, said it was necessary to take the necessary measures at a time when the worst climate scenario in the coming decades cannot be ignored.

“Our research and modeling shows that in the worst case, the temperature increase will be 4.5 degrees, not 1.5 or 2 degrees, by 2100… Agriculture will collapse, drought will lead to mass population transfers and we will not be able to secure food,” he said.