Athens/Nicosia - The drought-stricken eastern Mediterranean
island of Cyprus accepted its first water shipment from neighboring
Greece on Tuesday in order to deal with a severe water shortage.
Officials said a tanker containing some 40,000 cubic meters of
drinking water arrived in the southern coast of the island shortly
after midnight.
Tuesday's shipment from Greece is more than double the quantity
currently available in all of the island's 17 reservoirs.
Agriculture Minister Andreas Polynikis said Greece has agreed to
sell 8 million cubic meters of water to Cyprus by November 15.
The water will be filtered into the island's main water network,
expected later this week, once tests for quality are carried out.
The island's reservoirs have reached dangerously low levels and
its two desalination plants are unable to keep up with industry and
household demand.
The drought has also forced authorities in March to impose
emergency measures which include cutting household water supply by 30
per cent in an effort to tackle the shortage.
The island has two desalination plants which are currently
operating at full capacity and a third is expected to be up and
running later this year.
Polynikis said that the island's water shortage problem was
estimated at 16 million cubic metres and could end up costing the
government some 40 million euros (63 million dollars).
Cyprus, which is heavily reliant on rainfall for water supplies,
is suffering one of the worst droughts and water shortages of the
past 100 years.
The Mediterranean island's 109 reservoirs are only 7 per cent
full, containing 19.7 million cubic meters of water and Cyprus'
largest dam, the Kouri, is expected to run dry in the next few
months, according to the most recent data.
According to official statistics, rainfall in Cyprus has dropped
by about 20 per cent over the past 35 years and unseasonal weather
has seen temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius.
Across the island, water is being pumped out of the ground at an
unsustainable pace, mainly by farmers who have had to deal with four
consecutive years of water cuts by authorities.
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