Nicosia, Cyprus. Water reserves in Cyprus’ reservoirs stood at 13.8% of total capacity on Wednesday, nearly half the level recorded at the same time last year. Officials said the island is in its fourth consecutive year of drought and expects limited additional inflows.
Reservoir levels and year-on-year comparison
Data from the water development department (WDD) showed reservoirs currently hold about 40 million cubic metres of water, compared with more than 75 million cubic metres in February last year. The decline has continued despite recent rainfall, which has contributed only marginal inflows to the storage system.
Conditions in major reservoirs
The country’s largest reservoir, Kouris, remained at around one eighth of its capacity, while Asprokremmos, the second largest, showed a similarly low level. Evretou reservoir was slightly higher but remained well below last year’s levels.
Southern pipeline shortages and official warning
The most acute shortages were recorded in reservoirs supplying the southern pipeline, where levels were in the low single digits, raising concerns over resilience as the dry season approaches. A senior WDD official said earlier this week the situation is among the worst on record, noting that last year storage was at 26% and described as low, while this year that level will not be reached. Officials cautioned that little additional water is expected to flow into dams beyond February.
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