The rainfall, snowfall in Troodos, and most importantly, the water flow into the dams during January 2025, were not only not in line with our expectations but brought us closer to the nightmare scenario of a water emergency situation before or during this year's summer.
This is not sensationalism but actual data, which can only be reversed by a -welcome- siege of Cyprus by low barometric pressure systems in the immediate months.
The latest count (30/1) from the Water Development Department clearly explains why: The total stored amount in the major dams remained at 26.1% of their capacity. They have specifically 75.95 million cubic meters of water.
It wouldn't even fill Kouris
The same percentage (26.1%) was also recorded on January 23rd. The obvious reason it did not increase, despite the cuts in water supply for irrigation purposes, lies in Mavrokolymbos, where the inability to repair a pipe before the water drained led to the loss of 1.4 million cubic meters.
The available water today would not even fill Kouris (capacity of 115 million cubic meters). Note that the largest dam in the country hosts only 25.09 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to 21.8% of its capacity.
Worse than the years of drought
The water inflow in January that we passed (until 30/1) was far behind, compared to the corresponding months of the previous two years that were associated with drought conditions. Make the comparison:
- January 2025: 3.88 million cubic meters
- January 2024: 7.30 million cubic meters
- January 2023: 8.26 million cubic meters
This year's January in terms of water inflow into the dams is the second worst of the decade from 2014-2015 to 2023-2024.
This article was translated from its original Greek.
