Filenews 14 January 2022
At 60.4% is the occupancy of the dams today, corresponding to 75.8 million cubic metres of water, according to data from the Water Development Department. The corresponding occupancy last year was 73.2%, with 212,758 mil. cubic metres of water. As Marios Hadjicostis, Technical Engineer A' at the Water Development Department, stated, overflows of small dams are expected within the next week.
This year "is a good year" and "we have covered half the way" to achieve the goal of a total occupancy of 75% by March, noted Mr. Chatzikostis. If the target is not met, he noted, the quantities allocated to irrigation will be reduced compared to last year.
As he also stated, the weather is unpredictable and if another low barometric comes, similar to that of the New Year, it is certain that the target will be exceeded and there will be no problems in this year's water supply and irrigation.
Compared to other years, Mr. Chatzikostis mentioned that the total storage in the dams is reduced, but this year's flow has surpassed last year's. Specifically, to date, 41 cm of water have flowed into the dams, in comparison to 36 cm last year. He added that in recent years the inflow does not exceed 50 million cm, something that seems to happen this year, while it seems that "it is likely that we will reach the average inflow of the decade, which amounts to 95-96 million cm.".
Moreover, within the next week, the small dams of Xyliatos, Argaka and possibly Pomos are expected to overflow. The Lefkara dam, although with the highest current occupancy, at 90.1%, is not expected to overflow, according to the estimates of Mr. Hatzikosti, as it is a "difficult dam". Although it has had high inflows with the last rains, this is difficult to repeat. If a similar system of low barometric to the previous one should happen again, which would affect this area again, while the Water Department draws water from this dam to delay its overflow.
