CyprusVista

The arrival of a tanker full of drinking water off the coast of Cyprus this week will bring welcome relief to the island’s dwindling water reserves.

Two tankers a day for the next six months will leave the port of Elefsina in Greece to sail to an offshore pumping station at Limassol in Cyprus, ferrying a total of 8 million cubic metres of water. Cyprus water supplies are at their lowest since 1908 due to four years without significant rainfall. The emergency shipments, dismissed back in early spring as “pure science fiction” according to a BBC report, will cost the Republic of Cyprus government 38 million Euros.

The Senior Engineer at the Cyprus Department of Water Development, Kyriacos Kirou, explained how the fresh water from Greece has been fully tested before being pumped along a specially constructed underwater pipeline. Most of the imported water will join the supply network in Limassol, with some channeled to the storage depot near Yermasogeias to cope with tourism requirements. Any surplus will join the southern pipeline to supply the Famagusta and Larnaca districts.

Cyprus is not alone in shipping in water to alleviate water shortages. Back in May this year, the Spanish city of Barcelona was forced to bring in tankers of water after the city’s main reservoir dropped to below 18% capacity. 2008 has been the driest year since records began in Spain in 1948. Each shipment of water to the parched Spanish city contains 28 million litres, with up to 12 shipments arriving every month.

Water is also at the heart of negotiations between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights area. This large plateau provides around 30% of Israel’s fresh water supplies.

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