The amount of rain which has fallen in Cyprus so far during the month of November is already at 150 per cent of the average for the whole month, yet the island’s reservoirs remain largely empty.
Additionally, the rainy November has upped the seasonal rate, with the amount which has fallen since October 1 now reaching 93 per cent of the normal rate, despite an unusually dry October.
Despite this rainfall, however, the amount of water in Cyprus’ reservoirs remains well below what would be expected.
In total, there are 74 million cubic metres of water in Cyprus’ reservoirs at present – 25.5 per cent of total capacity – which is just over half the figure recorded this time last year, when there were 135 million cubic metres of water in the reservoirs, meaning they were 46.5 per cent full at the time.
In particular, the Vyzakia reservoir in the Nicosia district has just 66,000 cubic metres of water in it and is just 3.9 per cent full. This time a year ago, it held ten times more water.
Water development department representative Yianna Economidou told the Cyprus Mail that the sustained low level of water in the reservoirs has remained so as only a small amount of rainwater actually ends up in the reservoirs.
Most of it, she said, ends up being soaked up by the ground or running off elsewhere.
As such, she said, it will take “sustained levels of heavy and persistent rain” for the level of water in Cyprus’ reservoirs to increase markedly.
With this not yet having happened, the department’s senior executive engineer Elena Foinikaridou had said in August that Cyprus’ five seawater desalination units are continuing to operate at full capacity.
This, she said, reduces the need for reservoir water to be purified and used.
She added that the government drew up its current “water allocation scenario” in April, and that the scenario foresees various eventualities and will allocate water to those who need it accordingly from Cyprus’ various sources, in line with availability.
“Strict adherence to the scenario is the basic tool for the rational management of the available quantities of water,” she said.
In terms of consumer usage, she said there has been a “slight increase” in water consumption compared to last year.
She said this could be down to a number of factors, including Cyprus’ growing population, a reduction in the number of holidays being taken abroad by people living on the island, and increased temperatures.
