Drought-stricken Cyprus begins importing water from Greece

Jul 1, 2008, 8:03 GMT

Athens/Nicosia - The drought-stricken eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus accepted its first water shipment from neighboring Greece on Tuesday in order to deal with a severe water shortage.

Officials said a tanker containing some 40,000 cubic meters of drinking water arrived in the southern coast of the island shortly after midnight.

Tuesday's shipment from Greece is more than double the quantity currently available in all of the island's 17 reservoirs.

Agriculture Minister Andreas Polynikis said Greece has agreed to sell 8 million cubic meters of water to Cyprus by November 15.

The water will be filtered into the island's main water network, expected later this week, once tests for quality are carried out.

The island's reservoirs have reached dangerously low levels and its two desalination plants are unable to keep up with industry and household demand.

The drought has also forced authorities in March to impose emergency measures which include cutting household water supply by 30 per cent in an effort to tackle the shortage.

The island has two desalination plants which are currently operating at full capacity and a third is expected to be up and running later this year.

Polynikis said that the island's water shortage problem was estimated at 16 million cubic metres and could end up costing the government some 40 million euros (63 million dollars).

Cyprus, which is heavily reliant on rainfall for water supplies, is suffering one of the worst droughts and water shortages of the past 100 years.

The Mediterranean island's 109 reservoirs are only 7 per cent full, containing 19.7 million cubic meters of water and Cyprus' largest dam, the Kouri, is expected to run dry in the next few months, according to the most recent data.

According to official statistics, rainfall in Cyprus has dropped by about 20 per cent over the past 35 years and unseasonal weather has seen temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius.

Across the island, water is being pumped out of the ground at an unsustainable pace, mainly by farmers who have had to deal with four consecutive years of water cuts by authorities.