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Anger as water crisis looms
By Anna Hassapi

BICKERING over water policy issues has now officially entered the presidential battle, with presidential candidates criticising the government for its lack of planning and policy on the water problem. To deal with the crisis, a meeting of all responsible departments will be held today at the Ministry of Agriculture, where the need for water cuts will be discussed.

Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou has not ruled out the option of introducing water cuts before the presidential election. “We will wait until March. If it doesn’t rain until then, the water cuts will start. It would be unfair to cause trouble to people from now, because there is a chance we get sufficient rainfall by then,” he added.

DISY deputy Georgios Tasou blasted the President’s stance on water resources. “With his statements, he is trying to justify the absence of policy on the part of his government by saying it’s God’s fault. With such policy, unfortunately, our country cannot move forward.”

“The government, with its failed water policy, but also its criminal indifference towards the Cypriot people, has left them thirsty, especially the farmers who have been left at God’s mercy. Entire plantations have been ruined in one night without warning, the government has cut off water from various water works,” Tasou said.
“The water problem is developing into the biggest nightmare for Cypriot society,” added Tasos Mitsopoulos, DISY spokesman. “According to official information, Cyprus’ annual water needs amount to 157 million cubic metres. Present reserves add up to approximately 24 million cubic metres.

“A comparison of these numbers shows that the Papadopoulos government has been criminally delaying, and leaving our country unprotected before the upcoming water shortage,” Mitsopoulos added.

Independent presidential candidate Costas Themistocleous, a former agriculture minister, was also critical of the government’s management of water resources. “Unfortunately, we have come to the point of cuts, as the President of the Republic confirmed yesterday,” said Themistocleous.

“The reason cuts are taking place is because water works have not been carried out. The government has abandoned all the infrastructure works planned by the previous government, but also did not plan any of its own works and as a result we are at the cuts stage. So we are reaching the cuts phase, which the President said will take place before or after the elections, taking us back to a situation we had thought was over,” Themistocleous explained.

Referring to the particularly dramatic shortages of water supply in Limassol, AKEL MP Yiannakis Thoma pointed out that the situation was becoming tragic and Kourris and Yermasoyia dams were empty. “From Kourris dam, as much quantity of water goes out as that coming in. What will happen when water stops coming in? I am afraid that we will have to bring in water with turbines from the Larnaca area, for Limassol’s water supply,” Thoma said.

Georgios Tasou also blamed the government for its failure to implement plans for additional desalination units. “Every citizen wonders why all this irresponsibility and inaction on finalised studies from the Glafcos Clerides government for the creation of two desalination units in Limassol and Paralimni, which have been locked in the drawers of the relevant ministries,” Tasou said.

Thoma also pointed out that the quality of water from drilling in Limassol was poor.
Limassol local government bodies have also expressed their concern over water quality in the past. Limassol officials are also pointing out that Larnaca and Nicosia already have desalination units, whereas Limassol neither has one, nor is it clear when a Limassol desalination unit will start operating.

As a temporary solution, the floating desalination unit at Moni is scheduled to start operating by June 2008. The unit will be located on the site of the EAC power station. It will be used for three years and in the meantime, the permanent desalination unit at Episkopi will be completed.

The Moni choice has been heavily contested by neigbouring communities Moni, Parekklissia, Pyrgos and Pentakomo. The local councils of these communities point out that three local plans indicate that the area is expected to undergo tourist development and that the area will also be burdened by the road network for the Technological Park.

More importantly, they point out that the government has not followed the law and has not asked for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) to be conducted. This point is important, not just in terms of the need to uphold the law, but also because of indications of the presence of quantities of asbestos beneath the site where the floating desalination unit will be constructed.

Defending the government’s handling of water policy, the Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment, Fotis Fotiou argued that the government has in fact taken action, despite accusations of inactivity. He pointed out that water cuts in agriculture started in January 2006, were re-introduced in 2007 and would continue.

“We do not supply water either to permanent or to seasonal cultivations,” Fotiou said. “We only provide water to greenhouse-bound cultivations, but that will also be cut off as soon as the plantations complete their cycle. Additionally, we supply water for stockbreeding because we cannot leave the animals to die.

“Contrary to what they have been accusing us, we have been promoting desalination units. In February, construction starts on the floating desalination unit at the seaside area of Pyrgos in Limassol, and in the same month the assessment of offers for the permanent desalination unit at Episkopi will start,” Fotiou explained.

The forecast of the Meteorological Service offers a glimpse of hope on the water crisis. According to the forecast there will be some rain, falling as snow in the mountains today, on Friday and Saturday.




Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

[cyprusgrump]

We're buggered!

[purdey]

You are if you live in Pissouri or Lemesos.We have plenty of water in the village,the underground springs are teeming with fresh sweet water.

[cyprusgrump]

I think we (Pissouri) get ours from Asprokremmos which still has a fair bit...

http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/wdd/Wdd.nsf/r ... enDocument

[Nikitas]

You can always get a small scale solar powered desalination plant and tell the water company to bugger itself.

[webbo]

You are if you live in Pissouri or Lemesos.We have plenty of water in the village,the underground springs are teeming with fresh sweet water.

If there is no rain, your springs will not last forever mate then what will you do?

Why is it I have done my bit by

recyclng my washing-up water to water the plants
wash the floors only when really desperate now!!
have bricks in the toilet cisterns
have short showers and no baths
use the washer only with full loads
while waiting for the water to heat up, cold shower water is collected in a bucket then transported out to the garden
when it does rain we have buckets out collecting the water
our cars have been washed once since October - yes I had the joker write 'wash me' but I was proud of that fact
Sure there is more but cannot bring to mind at the moment!

My neighbour - the one with the annoying dog - has washing out every day (3 in their family and I have never understood just where it all comes from!) and she is always washing down her path. AND their 3 cars are always gleeming!

It is just not fair and if and when the water bans come my family will be penalised for others lack of concern about what is going on around them.
Maybe I should approach the government and ask them for my own water supply seeing as how we are so 'water friendly'



Bubbles x

[purdey]

Our springs are full and have never been depleted.Any water that comes from Troodos fills our springs first,the rest flows down to Kouris dam.

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Our springs are full and have never been depleted.Any water that comes from Troodos fills our springs first,the rest flows down to Kouris dam.

That is good to hear, know where to come, ta!!

What is there is no snow or rain, then what? I ask as I have never lived through the possibilty of drought!

Bubbles x

[purdey]

I don't know where you live,or if you ever go to the mountains.It rains up here most days even in the summer.Yesterday the village had 1 inch of rain in two hours,Monday we had over 1 inch.
In 467 years there has never been a shortage of water in the area,due to the micro climate.
Fortunately,sorry unfortunately alot of the water gets lost in the run down to the dam,so in essense unless there are days of torrential downpours the water will not materialise down below.

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I don't know where you live,or if you ever go to the mountains.It rains up here most days even in the summer.Yesterday the village had 1 inch of rain in two hours,Monday we had over 1 inch.
In 467 years there has never been a shortage of water in the area,due to the micro climate.
Fortunately,sorry unfortunately alot of the water gets lost in the run down to the dam,so in essense unless there are days of torrential downpours the water will not materialise down below.

That is good to hear. Will be knocking on your door if I run out!! Or I should take a trip up the mountains with my water bottle

Bubbles x