Seven Greek islands in the Aegean Sea have issued drought warnings to conserve water as climate change makes summers hotter and rains less frequent, Reuters reports.
Authorities can only speculate whether there will be enough rainfall next year to meet the water needs of thousands of tourists at a time when locals also need it most.
The island of Astypalaia, east of the Greek mainland, uses bottled water and has been without rain since the drought that hit northern and western Greece and caused it to experience its wettest winter since 2022. Astypalaia had its second-driest year since 2020, leaving island officials with a dilemma. Standing by the island’s only water reservoir, an artificial lake surrounded by dry hills covered in sparse bushes, Nikos Komineias, the island’s mayor, said that if a year’s worth of rainfall were collected in a bucket or bowl, the water would be just 2.5 centimetres deep.
Authorities had already stopped farmer Evdokia Palatiano from using the reservoir in April. The vegetables she grew in her garden had withered because she had to rely solely on water from a well. The 71-year-old told Reuters she would not plant anything until it rained. Her tangerine tree in the village of Livadi, the island’s main fertile area, had died.
The reservoir, which is the main source of water for Livadi and the island’s capital, Chora, currently holds 150,000 cubic metres of water, just a sixth of its capacity.
In the summer, the islanders need 900 cubic meters of water every day,
which means that the reservoir would last for about five and a half months.
Komineias said that the authorities declared a water emergency in May to speed up the construction of desalination plants and to prevent farmers from using the reservoir for irrigation in order to preserve water reserves until the fall. He added that the decision was not an easy one, and that if there is enough rainfall, farmers will be able to use the reservoir again.
Astypalaia was marked orange on the European Drought Observatory map in June, meaning that there are early signs of severe drought.
Some hotel owners in Astypalaia have already started taking steps to save water. Karolina Alkalaj, who owns a hotel in Chora, is offering guests five-euro vouchers if they do not use cleaning services every day. She said that guests have accepted the situation.
Environment Minister Stavros Papastavro has approved 15 million euros in investments in desalination plants, network improvements and water reservoirs on nine of Greece’s 200 inhabited islands. 1.5 million euros will be allocated to Astapalaya. In June Papastavro briefed other environment ministers on the resilence of water supply systems.
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