Filenews 10 February 2026 - by Angelos Nikolaou
The Water Development Department (WDD) is ending the concession of water to golf courses that are irrigated by dams. Instructions have already been given to the WDD by the Ministry of Agriculture and following the letters sent on November 20, meetings have already been held with the owners of both golf courses that are irrigated by the Paphos irrigation system to end the utilization of water from Asprokremmos in May 2026. The two fields make use of less than 3% of the total quantities irrigated by farmers in Paphos. Specifically, until May, the quantities available for the irrigation of the two fields reach 150,000 cubic meters of water, out of a total of 6.12 million cubic meters that will be allocated to the Province.
The Water Development Department has sent letters to the owners of all golf courses. Based on the policy implemented since 2005, today three of them are irrigated with reclaimed water, while the other two golf courses that use water from the Paphos Large Irrigation Project, are in a transitional phase and the supply of water from dams is terminated by May 2026. Therefore, in a few months their dependence on the dams will be negligible.
The current price for golf courses irrigated with reclaimed water is currently €0.29 per cubic metre. For golf courses that received water from Government Water Works (dams), the total charge amounts to €0.42/cubic meter.
The WDD in the letters to the owners of the golf courses states that the policy of 2025 has changed after the decision of the Council of Ministers with the decision of the date. 28/08/2013. Essentially, the government approved the revision of the water supply policy of existing and new golf course developments, according to which their irrigation needs will be covered by tertiary wastewater treatment plants that fall under the competence of the State or are managed by the Local Sewerage Boards (now EOA).
Based on this decision, the obligation to use reclaimed water is included in the planning permits of all developments, where it is explicitly stated that the water supply will be from reclaimed water sources.
In the case of the Minthis Hills development, the irrigation water comes from the Ezousa aquifer, through the Paphos Large Irrigation Project (MAEP). According to the licensing terms of the project, the irrigation needs would be covered by the owner's projects to pump water from the Ezousa aquifer. However, due to technical difficulties, water is supplied by the MAEP pumped from the Ezoussa aquifer. Essentially, the water source remains the same, but the way it is transported to the golf course is different.
The same is observed for the irrigation of the Elea Golf Club course, where the irrigation water comes from the aquifer of Ezousa, which is enriched with reclaimed water, as well as from the Paphos Large Irrigation Project (MAEP). Essentially, the source of water supply is a private drilling within the aquifer of Ezousa.
It is noted that Limassol Greens is already irrigated by reclaimed water from the Limassol Amathus Sewerage Board.
With the WDD letter, the managers of the Aphrodite Hills golf development and the Columbia Secret Valley golf development are informed that a Memorandum of Understanding had been concluded, for the joint construction and operation of a project to transport reclaimed water from the Ezousa to Achelia enrichment project to the golf courses. However, the WDD notes, the project was never implemented.
The owners of the two stadiums were informed that in view of the critical water situation that Cyprus is facing and the gradual reduction of the reserves in the dams, it is necessary to immediately stop the water supply to the two developments from MAEP and find alternative sources of irrigation. Today the source of irrigation for the two fields is the Asprokremmos dam.
