in-cyprus 12 December 2024 - by Angelos Nicolaou
Cyprus is taking emergency measures to prevent water shortages next summer, with the government approving temporary mobile desalination units as concerns grow over reservoir levels and potential drought conditions in early 2025.
The Water Development Department (WDD) reports that water inflow to the Southern Conveyor Project dams during the 2023-2024 hydrological year was the fourth lowest in 30 years, reaching only 30% of the average. The dams received just 24.7 million cubic metres of water, filling only 8.5% of their capacity. Paphos dams fared worse, with inflow at merely 15% of the average. The past hydrological year was also the eighth driest in the past 50 years, with current dam capacity at 25.4%, down from 46% during the same period last year.
Four mobile desalination units, each with a capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 cubic metres per day, will be installed to address potential water shortages in 2025 and 2026. The units will be located at the Garyllis riverbed, Limassol port, the EAC power station at Moni, and near the Paphos marina construction site in Kissonerga.
Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou announced a comprehensive €66.4 million action plan comprising 28 measures to enhance water security. The immediate actions include installing the mobile desalination units with a total capacity of 30,000 cubic metres daily, expandable to 40,000, starting from October 2025.
The minister said that by the early 2030s, fixed and mobile desalination units will produce 510,000 cubic metres daily, up from the current 235,000, meeting 100% of drinking water needs.
Medium-term measures include policy reviews and expedited private desalination plant licensing, whilst long-term actions focus on infrastructure development, including two new permanent desalination plants at Moni and Dhekelia with a combined capacity of 140,000 cubic metres daily, expandable to 180,000.
