Nicosia, Cyprus. Water runoff into Cyprus’s dams increased in recent days, but overall conditions remain precarious, a former official told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday. Reservoir storage reached 19.8% of capacity on Tuesday, compared with 25.8% on the same date last year.
Recent inflows and current storage
Over the past four days, about 3.3 million cubic metres (mcm) flowed into the reservoirs, lifting total storage to 19.8% of capacity on Tuesday.
Hydrological year runoff totals
So far in the current hydrological year, measured from the beginning of October to the end of September, about 36.8 mcm has flowed into the dams. This compares with 18.6 mcm in the 2024-2025 hydrological year and 24.7 mcm in 2023-2024, both described as drought years.
Outlook linked to March rainfall
Kyriacos Kyrou, former director of the Water Development Department (WDD), said that if rainfall in March is at normal levels, overall precipitation would be around average this hydrological year. He added that in that scenario, storage would likely reach 75 mcm, similar to last year, and said precipitation is currently almost average.
How precipitation affects runoff
In years of average precipitation, runoff into reservoirs is about 80% of average runoff. If precipitation reaches about 15% above average, it typically translates into 130% of average runoff. When precipitation is as low as 50% to 60% of average, little water flows into the dams.
How do you expect March rainfall levels to affect water availability this year?
