CONFERENCE OF THE WATER DIRECTORS
OF THE EURO- MEDITERRANEAN
AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
6 & 7 November 2006
Athens, Greece
Country Report Cyprus - Abstract
by Christodoulos Artemis, Director
Water Development Department
Cyprus is an island state of 9250 km² area, member of EU, in the Eastern Mediterranean and with a population of about 800.000 in the free areas.
The climate is mediterranean, with 460mm of rainfall. It has an average 370Mm² useable water, which implies it is severely water stressed. About 70% is used by agriculture, with steady demand trend, while 30% for potable use with increasing trend. In addition 30 MCM per year are desalinated. There are severe problems of matching supply and demand, and with multiyear droughts.
Wastewater treatment plants cover most towns but works are under construction for extensions. Also there are plans for using treated wastewater for agriculture, so that they will contribute to the water balance of the island. In effect there are 4 sources of water: surface, groundwater, desalinated and recycled. Most water works are under government control, while most sewage works are run by municipalities, but the use of recycled water is the responsibility of the government. Ôhe Water Development Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment is the main agency dealing with water issues but other water functions exist in other departments or ministries.
At present large efforts are made to implement the WFD and the timetable is followed. The most severe problems are diffuse pollution from agriculture, point source pollution from pigfarms and waste dumping sites, over abstraction of groundwater and multiyear droughts. The programme of measures will make possible the cost estimate for the Management Plan to be implemented. In Cyprus all people have access to safe drinking water delivered to each household, and all houses are either connected to a central sewage collection network or to septic tanks and absorption pits. In the latter case many such pits frequently fill up and have to be emptied but, with the implementation of the 91/271 EEC directive for sewage treatment plans at a cost of 900 million Euro, this will be rectified. Therefore the Millennium Development Goal no. 7, target 10 for halving by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is already achieved. However Target 9 for integrating sustainability into water policies still needs considerable effort.
To bring the water situation under sustainable management and alleviate the effects of drought, we will need both large financial investments but also political will and change of attitude of the users towards this precious resource.
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