Cyprus’ water dam war: farmers say ‘we want it all’

Farmers call for more environmentally unfriendly desalination plants to meet domestic consumers’ needs

As the drought continues to rapidly shrink water levels in the reservoirs, farmers face ever increasing water cuts for irrigation with knock on effects on crop production and prices.

Potato growers across Cyprus, for example, have seen water cuts year after year, leaving them no choice but to stop sowing, which in turn leads to fewer potatoes and higher prices. Consumers have been known to pay €1 for a single tomato in recent days.

Water levels in the reservoirs currently stand at 25.7 per cent, while Kourris, the island’s largest, is 23.3 per cent full.

Because the current water crisis is no longer being dealt with as in the past with daily water cuts for households, a sort of water war is brewing between farmers and the general public. Farmers say they should get all the water from the reservoirs while domestic consumers should use desalinated water, supplied by a greater number of desalination plants.

President of Panagrotikos agricultural organisation Kyriakos Kailas told the Cyprus Mail that there were already five desalination plants in Cyprus and that more should be built with EU help.

“All this is the result of all governments. We told them a decade ago that Cyprus is a small island susceptible to droughts and that water in dams should be used for irrigation, while residents and tourists can use desalinated water,” said big agricultural producer Michalis Ignatiou from Ayia Varvara, Paphos.

Georgios Christodoulou, a hydrologist and former government official, explained the present division of water supplies.

“Water use is primarily divided among sectors for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes, with heavy reliance on desalination, dam reserves and some recycled water to meet demand,” he said.

“Domestic water needs for 2024, estimated at 106 million cubic metres, are largely supplied by desalination – about 70 million cubic metres – with the remaining 36 million sourced from dams and boreholes.”

He said farmers had been hit hard by the water irrigation cuts.

“For agricultural irrigation, a reduced allocation of 39.7 million cubic metres is planned, reflecting a 33.7 per cent decrease from the previous year.”

Farmers say water from reservoirs will be cut off completely at the end of the month, however experts said the hydrological calendar did not start until November 1 and decisions for further water cuts will be taken much later on a technocratic level, depending on rainfall.

“The situation is very bad,” Christodoulou said but pointed out that there have been no decisions to cut water completely for irrigation purposes.

He explained that the policy for upcoming months will be decided possibly by the end of the year, depending on rainfall. A committee of technocrats from departments and ministries assesses all data available and decides on the next cycle’s water policy.

Christodoulou said a big strain is put on water reserves by domestic use, with each person in Cyprus using 260-300 litres of water per day.

These figures, he said, are taken into account in planning for the next hydrological calendar and were also taken into consideration when planning the sewerage systems.

But whatever the degree of water cuts to farmers, Christodoulou says more desalination plants is definitely not the answer.

“Natural resources are limited, but desalination is not sustainable,” he said.

He explained that, apart from being extremely costly to produce water, it intervenes in the marine environment and waste from water treatment creates a critical zone of a few kilometres around the plant.

“With all the salt going back into the environment, you end up with a dead sea in your own sea,” he added.

Christodoulou also said underground reserves were “being depleted and it takes years for surface water to reach ground water”.

To top this, there is “a serious problem with seawater intrusion along the coast”.

According to a January 2021 study, desalination is key for the safe drinking water supply in Cyprus, contributing as much as 70 per cent to the total water supply, but the authors warned that this comes with significant local environmental effects, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and marine environmental impacts.

Desalinating seawater in Cyprus requires electrical energy mostly produced by burning imported fossil fuels, releasing greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018, the emissions for desalination purposes represented 2 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Cyprus.

The authors said desalination accounted for approximately 5 per cent of the total electricity consumption in Cyprus and represented one of the largest shares of electricity consumption within the industrial end-users.

Furthermore, the production of 69.9 million cubic metres of desalinated water in 2018 generated around 103 million cubic metres of brine effluent as well, causing marine environmental impacts in the vicinity of the brine discharge points.

Despite such evidence, farmers insist more desalination plants are needed.

They and their unions remember a few years back when things seemed to be moving, under the then Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis, however nothing was actually done and plans stayed in the drawers.

Water is “a very serious problem”, leading to increased prices and “the consumers are right in complaining,” Panagrotikos’ Kailas told the Cyprus Mail.

He explained that due to less water, farmers are planting fewer fields at the same running cost, which is then rolled onto the smaller quantities of produce.

Kailas spoke of short-term and long-term solutions and blamed all governments for not taking measures years ago. He pointed out that “the problem is with the technocrats” who are not pulling their weight.

“We are citing droughts and water shortages, but those drafting the plans are sitting behind the same desks in the same chairs,” he said.

Kailas said the agricultural organisations visited desalination facilities in Israel along with Kadis. “The Israelis laughed and said we could have as much [desalinated] water as we wanted because we are an island. Unfortunately, it all ended up in a drawer.”

There is, of course, recycled water for irrigation purposes. But that solution has stalled mostly for political reasons.

At present, efforts to connect the farmers to the Mia Milia bicommunal water treatment plant have failed and 10 million cubic metres of recycled water per year are discharged into the Pedieos river because efforts to reach an agreement between the two sides in Cyprus on how to exploit the water have failed.

The EU-funded facility in Mia Milia will operate in the buffer zone under Unficyp and will send 70 per cent of the produced water to the south.

This water would be sent to livestock farmers, leaving a portion of water from dams for crops.

Kailas said the agricultural world had already informed Cyprus’ MEPs that the issue of Mia Milia should be reported to the EU.

Mia Milia produces on average 10 million cubic metres per year of tertiary chlorinated treated water, at a cost of about 35 cents per cubic metre.

Currently, there appears to be no discussion underway on how to exploit the water, with studies over the years suggesting it be shared between farmers of the two communities on a 70:30 basis, that is 70 per cent to the south and 30 per cent to the north.

Another project ready to run is the Tersefanou dam, which was completed in 2023.

“Quite surprisingly, there is no pipe to take the water and over 70 per cent of it flows into the sea,” Kailas said.

“God forbid if next year there is another drought. We will be facing desertification. It is a disaster,” he said.

“Water means a very stable economy” and things were getting desperate. “If there is no water, we will shut shop.”

Fruit and vegetables will not even be a luxury item, he said.

“They just won’t exist.”

Kailas explained that there was a protocol during a water shortage – first human survival, then animals and lastly crops.

“But if citrus trees die, you can’t replace them in a year,” he said, giving an example.

He added that water cuts over the past two years have reached 45 per cent and that now more cuts are on the way.

“Farmers have exhausted all their reserves, their savings, because they thought better days would come. Many have left the sector,” he said.

The only way out is to build more desalination plants and quickly get the mature projects operating, he said.

Farmers across the island are faced with the dilemma of placing their faith in the state to deliver on its promises or leave the sector once and for all.

In Mammari, where farmers mainly cultivate artichokes and olives, which need a total of around 300 tonnes of water per day, the wells have gone dry and the village has not been linked to the Mia Milia water treatment plant as it should have been.

“Over the past six months, our wells have gone dry and we are asking the state to drill new wells or bring recycled water from the tertiary treatment plant in Anthoupolis [Mia Milia],” community leader Nikos Kotziapashis told the Cyprus Mail.

The community was told that pipes would be laid for the recycled water in early 2025, however the request for Mammari to be connected to the grid was first filed 15 years ago.

He said the community has sent a letter to the agriculture ministry outlining the problem and requesting water.

Kotziapashis said there was no central irrigation system and that farmers were watering their crops and olive groves from private wells, which are now yielding a maximum of 50 tonnes a day.

As a result, farmers have not planted artichokes as they cannot water them and will harvest the olives that have managed to grow without rain.

“Production will be down and prices will go up. Olive oil will definitely be more expensive,” he said.

Over in Ayia Varvara, Paphos, Ignatiou grows potatoes, onions and black-eyed peas and is one of the biggest producers in the area.

As other producers there, he gets water from the Paphos irrigation project, which draws water from Asprokremmos dam, the second largest in Cyprus with a total capacity of 860,000 cubic metres.

In 2022 and 2023, water supply for irrigation was continuous, however in 2024 it was cut by 30 per cent.

“Now, towards the end of 2024 and with no rain forecast, the Water Development Department is closing all pipelines. Only the permanent plantations with trees will be getting water, while the seasonal ones like potatoes will be getting none,” Ignatiou told the Cyprus Mail.

Ignatiou cultivates 35 plots of 5,000 square metres to 25,000 square metres and only one of those plots has its own well. “The others cannot be sown because there is no water.”

This means there will be no production, quotas will not be met, and imports will stall.

He insists residents and tourists should use desalinated water.

Ignatiou said that “unfortunately, even today, there is no response on behalf of the government.”

Although there have been promises for more desalination plants, nothing has yet to emerge. “It is all talk and no action. We want results now, not in five years’ time.”

If the drought continues for another year, the state should compensate the producers and introduce a partial pension scheme.

Ignatiou said the farmers used to buy water from the Paphos irrigation project at 17 cents per tonne, however now the price has shot up to 45 cents per tonne. This, coupled with the higher cost of fertilisers and fuel, has led to the price of fruit and vegetables skyrocketing, with increases of around 30 per cent.

Ignatiou remembers that in 2018 Kadis visited the district and promised four new desalination plants in Paphos, Limassol, Larnaca and Famagusta.

“So many years have passed, the government changed and we still have not seen the desalination plants. And because it rained after that and the dams overflowed, the government and technocrats did nothing,” he said.

Ignatiou said the drought has returned, next year is projected to be worse and no one is taking any political decisions.

“It is unthinkable that six years later we have no drinking water and we can’t take a bath. We are a country surrounded by water and we are facing a water shortage,” he added.

“The ongoing water scarcity, exacerbated by reduced rainfall and lower reservoir levels, has led Cyprus to cut allocations to certain regions significantly,” Christodoulou conceded.

The largest consumer, Kokkinochoria, will receive nearly 50 per cent less water than in 2023, while other areas like Limassol and Vasilikos Pentaschinos also face reductions.

“This strategy seeks to maintain essential water levels until projected rainfall in the coming years can support greater water resource stability.”

MAJOR IRRIGATION PROJECTS

Kokkinochoria (Southern Conveyor) Irrigation Project

In 2023, the area used around 17 million cubic metres for irrigation. For 2024, this allocation has been cut by approximately 50 per cent, resulting in an allocation of about 8.5 million cubic metres for irrigation. Crops: Potatoes, vegetables in greenhouses.

Paphos Irrigation Project

The project typically requires about 10-15 million cubic metres of water annually. In 2023, the Paphos project distributed around 16 million cubic metres of water. For 2024, this quantity has been reduced in line with conservation efforts, aiming to manage limited reserves across Cyprus amid ongoing drought conditions and lower rainfall. Crops: Citrus fruit, avocados, vegetables, olives, grapes.

Chrysochou Irrigation Project

The project typically requires about 10-15 million cubic metres of water annually, depending on seasonal rainfall and crop demand. In dry years, demand may rise, while in wetter years, it may decrease. However, precise figures can vary based on climate variations and cropping patterns each season. Crops: Citrus fruit, avocados, potatoes, vegetables in greenhouses, olives, grapes.