Attica, Greece’s region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, is seriously threatened by water scarcity and authorities managing the area’s water supply are preparing a series of measures, including an emergency plan to transport water via tanker ships, to ensure water supply remains stable.
According to the Athens Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP), as of April 15 Attica’s key water reserves supplying the Attica Basin have dropped by 30 percent at 648.57 million cubic meters -significantly lower than the 915.34 compared to the same day last year and far below the 1.42 billion cubic meters recorded on April 15, 2006.
In 1993, reserves dropped to 180.19 million cubic meters, when the Athens region was forced to implement emergency measures. While still above that dire situation, water consumption has been rising due to urban expansion and the tens of millions of tourists visiting Attica, threatening to push the area to conditions of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when washing cars, sidewalks and watering gardens with hoses was banned and residents were advised to place a brick in the toilet tank.
For that worst-case scenario, EYDAP’s emergency plan includes chartering three tanker ships to transport 100,000 cubic meters of water each from the Acheloos River estuaries at Astakos to Boeotia’s EYDAP network, via facilities in Aspropyrgos or Thisvi. This temporary measure, activated only if infrastructure projects lag or drought worsens, aims to prevent water shortages in Athens. EYDAP emphasizes this is a short-term fix, not a substitute for long-term solutions and will be activated exclusively under conditions of increased risk.
Scientists, despite a rainy winter, point out that the rainfall was not enough to make up for the previous two years of prolonged drought. If the pattern of low rainfall and high temperatures continues, they say, the strategy may change.
This is because high temperatures cause evaporation of water, which is already being recorded at worrying levels in the main four reservoirs of Attica: Mornos, Yliki, Marathon and Evinos.
But regardless of the amount of rainfall during the winter, the explosive rise of tourism in recent years, a trend expected to continue and even intensify, makes any replenishment of water resources impossible.
Still, EYDAP has come up with a 3-billion euro ($3.45 billion) long-term plan to tackle water scarcity, including the Kremasta Project. The initiative involves transferring water from Lake Kremasta via a 20-kilometer tunnel, which will supply 200 million cubic meters of water annually and will secure Attica’s water needs for decades.
Also in the works are projects to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant at Psytalia, link the Krikeliotis and Karpenisiotis rivers to the Evinos reservoir and pipelines replacements to address the 23 percent non-revenue water loss.
EYDAP is also drawing on Israeli expertise, aiming to cut its 15 percent leakage rate through smart meters and network upgrades.
