Filenews 27 March 2025 - by Angelos Nicolaou
Areas of Cyprus are on the spectrum of water scarcity and the government is not left with its hands crossed, as it has decided to proceed with important decisions to deal with the emerging difficult year. The districts of Limassol and Paphos are in a state of emergency, with the Water Development Department (TAY) making suggestions, the Minister of Agriculture proposing and the Council of Ministers taking extraordinary additional measures yesterday to deal with water scarcity. The decisions concern the direct assignment with the existing contractors in Paphos and Episkopi Limassol, in order to instal additional mobile desalination plants with a capacity of up to 10,000 cubic meters per day in the areas where their desalination plants are currently hosted.
According to estimates by the TAY, the districts of Limassol and Paphos are at great risk in terms of covering their daily needs for water supply during the peak period, i.e. the summer and autumn months, while, at the same time, the total available reserves in the dams are reduced. Especially in the province of Paphos, on the one hand, the complete destruction of the permanent desalination plant in Kouklia, due to the fire of last December, and the loss of reserves of 1.4 million cubic meters of water (GCM) from the Mavrokolymbou dam a month later due to the failure of the ventilation pipeline, alarmingly worsened the water situation. Based on the existing capacity of the refinery, a deficit of 10,000 cubic meters of water per day is expected to be created, mainly during the summer months.
Yesterday, the Council of Ministers was informed for the first time that the problems will continue into 2026, if the drought continues next winter. In such an eventuality, socio-economic effects are expected, with extensions even to the public health and food security of the country. In fact, it was deemed imperative to speed up the procedures for the reconstruction of the desalination plant in Kouklia, and for this purpose it was decided not to apply the terms of the relevant Urban Planning Consent that has been issued.
At the same time, it was decided to assign the existing contractor of the Paphos desalination plant to proceed with the installation of a temporary unit in the area of the existing plant, with a total capacity of up to 10,000 cubic meters per day. This decision was taken taking into account the deficit in the city's water balance, the immediate availability of space for the installation of the unit and the possibility of easy connection to the existing water infrastructure.
Furthermore, for a number of projects, it was decided to approve the exceptional implementation of the extraordinary additional actions by the TAY for the reduction of water scarcity, while any projects that proceed will be considered licensed and no urban planning consent will be required. These concern the promotion of the installation of temporary desalination plants and floating or land-based plants, where technically possible, through direct negotiation, provided that this is permissible under the provisions of the relevant legislation, due to the urgency of the matter and the technical characteristics.
In another development, in order to prevent the water deficit in Limassol, it was decided to install a temporary unit next to the factory of the existing desalination plant in Episkopi, with a total capacity of up to 10,000 cubic meters. per day, taking into account the deficit in the city's water balance, the immediate availability of space for the installation of the unit, the possibility of easy connection and the adequacy of the existing water infrastructure.
It is noted that the rapid implementation of the projects will also take place with other interested economic operators, who submitted a proposal through the expression of interest process, which is preliminarily assessed as suitable for further investigation and negotiation.
Based on preliminary estimates by the TAY, for the production of 10,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day, the total investment cost is estimated at €3 million per year.
Today, the amount of water stored in the main water supply and irrigation dams is only 24.6% compared to 47.2% in the same period last year. It is noted that the actual data recorded until the end of 2024 prove increased annual water consumption by 6% in the area of the Southern Pipeline Single Plan and by 8% in the Paphos area, with the total water consumption for 2024 amounting to 96 million cubic meters, compared to 89.2 million cubic meters in 2023.
According to the TAY, the significant increase is mainly due to the increased temperatures, the increase in tourism and the extension of the tourist season, the inclusion of new areas in the water supply networks of the Provincial Local Government Organizations (EDCs) and their interconnection with the government water supply systems, as well as the increased losses from the networks that have been integrated into the EDCs.
Small desalination with express permits for hoteliers
The Council of Ministers has decided on a sponsorship scheme for the installation of small private desalination plants in hotel units in order to meet their water needs, without burdening the government water supply systems. The total amount of aid for the plan, which will be valid for two years, amounts to €3 million. Furthermore, a new express procedure was decided for the licensing of small private desalination plants.
Another very important decision that has been taken is the very simplified licensing framework for small desalination plants up to 1,500 cubic meters of water per day. The simplification of procedures covers hotels, Local Authorities, but also farmers, who wish to install small desalination plants. Based on the new procedures, the licensing, as well as the approval of the funding, will be completed within a week.
At the same time, the Council of Ministers decided on the extraordinary state financing of projects to reduce water supply network losses of €8 million to the EDAs and communities. Also, it was decided to provide an annual provision of €1 million for the three-year period 2025-2027 for the most remote areas/communities outside the EDA.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panagiotou, said that the large losses that exist in the networks of responsibility of the Local Authorities are estimated at about 35-40%. This is due to the outdated network, which, unfortunately, has not been properly repaired to date.
According to Ms. Panagiotou, "as a government, we are investing in solutions with a measurable footprint, supporting local infrastructure and strengthening our collective effort for sustainable and adequate water management in a period of increased pressures due to the climate crisis. It is noted that the new decisions, taken today (ed. yesterday), come in addition to two very important actions that have been approved by the Council of Ministers, which are the National Investment Plan for Water Projects, with total investments of more than €1.2 billion, and the program of 28 actions to tackle water scarcity.
