Drought-hit Cyprus faces water cuts
NICOSIA (AFP) — The drought-hit Mediterranean island of Cyprus faced water cuts on Monday after the government decided to decrease supply to local authorities by a third to tackle the shortage.
Although a crisis meeting chaired by President Demetris Christofias stopped short of announcing household cuts, the reduction in supply to water boards and local authorities make that a likely outcome.
"To address the drastic situation, there will be a 30 percent reduction in supply to water boards and local authorities," government spokesman Stephanos Stephanou told reporters after the meeting.
"The reduction is a necessary measure so we can cover the needs of our citizens. How this reduction is managed is up to the local authorities themselves," he said.
The island needs around 66.7 million cubic metres of water a year. Reserves now stand at 50 million cubic metres, the spokesman said.
The government is now looking to put together a long-term strategy to help the island cope better with longer dry spells.
"We need a long-term comprehensive strategy to make us less dependent on rainfall."
Nicosia had examined the feasibility of shipping large quantities of water by tanker from Lebanon, but this option has been shelved with Greece coming to the rescue.
The spokesman said that it will take five months to build the necessary infrastructure to enable the Cypriot authorities to channel the water from Greek tankers to the areas of distribution.
Crisis talks were held to find ways to survive a chronic water shortage brought on by a two-year drought and unseasonal warm weather reaching 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).
Another option under review is imposing water quotas on every household with those exceeding them being charged a premium.
A regime of on-the-spot fines for water wasters seems to have failed to raise awareness over the island's dwindling water resources.
An awareness campaign will be launched to combat water waste and incentives introduced for conservation purposes such as recycling methods.
Cyprus's reservoirs are now at only 10.3 percent of capacity, down from 25 percent this time last year.
Rainfall for the winter months is well below the average expected for the period, with precipitation failing to reach 50 percent of the norm.
As part of a longer-term solution to the holiday island's water problems, the government plans to build more desalination plants and bolster output from the two existing ones.
Another measure is to tap new boreholes for water.
After April, heavy rain is not expected until October.
