Nicosia, Cyprus. Cyprus is entering 2026 amid a severe water shortage, with dam levels around 12 per cent of capacity and winter rainfall providing only limited relief. Officials have warned that summer cutbacks are likely, as the government accelerates reliance on desalination.
Water supply outlook and funding
Officials have said summer restrictions may be similar to emergency measures imposed in 2025. The government has treated desalination as an immediate operational requirement rather than a longer-term policy objective.
Desalination, introduced in Cyprus in 1997, supplies about 70 per cent of the island’s drinking water. The state has committed €196 million for 2026 water measures, including €140 million in the budget earmarked for purchasing desalinated water.
Planned desalination capacity and demand concerns
Authorities plan to operate a total of 12 desalination units by summer, with nine already in service and three tendered. Officials have acknowledged that output may still fall short of demand, calling on households to reduce consumption and indicating substantial cuts to irrigation water for farmers.
Mazotos dispute over mobile desalination unit
The rapid rollout of emergency infrastructure has highlighted tensions between urgency and environmental safeguards, particularly in Mazotos, a coastal village east of Larnaca. Plans for a mobile desalination unit have sparked controversy, with authorities describing it as temporary infrastructure to bolster supply.
Residents have said the site is ecologically sensitive and that the process has been rushed, with limited transparency or consultation. Mazotos’ coastline includes EU-protected habitats such as Posidonia oceanica meadows and reefs, and a community-commissioned study warned that nearby intakes and brine outfalls could cause irreversible harm.
The community council said the ministry has not shared a comprehensive environmental impact assessment and that national and EU procedures have been compressed or bypassed. Residents protested on January 24 with banners calling for environmental protection and opposing the project without studies or consultation, while demanding an immediate suspension, an independent assessment, evaluation of alternatives, and verified regulatory compliance.
Official response
In comments to the Sunday Mail, water development department director Eliana Tofa Christidou said the department is “bound to uphold the obligations and commitments set out in the state’s legislation”, whether discussing desalination policy in general or the project in Mazotos specifically.
How should Cyprus balance urgent water supply needs with environmental safeguards and local consultation?
