The situation is made difficult by prolonged high temperatures combined with reduced rainfall in several areas at the same time as the summer tourist season is heading towards its peak.
“Indeed, this year in many areas in the east of the country there is a 40-50% decrease in rainfall between October 2023 and April 2024, compared to the average of the previous decade. In Attica, for example, we had a 45% reduction, while we also had a reduction in Crete and especially in Eastern Crete and Agios Nikolaos, it was around 60%”, explains the professor emeritus at the School of Civil Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency , Maria Mimikou. However, he clarifies that water scarcity can also exist without drought.
“The water shortage in Greece is an endemic phenomenon, I would say, it is the deficit between the supply and demand of water, the available water. So water scarcity exists because of drought, but it is possible to have water scarcity without having drought. Many eastern countries have a deficit, it just seems more to us, as long as the dry and rainless years continue”, notes Ms. Mimikou.
As Mrs. Mimikou points out, the dry years and the inefficient consumption of water cause water shortages in many regions of Greece. For this reason, there is a need for limitations and decisions to be made.
“There is a strong buzz in Greece. In every use of water, whether it is water supply or irrigation – especially in irrigation – pumping methods must be improved to increase the productivity ratio of agricultural water”, explains Mrs. Mimikou and adds that the issue of water management needs to be put on the right footing resources.
“There should be a central water resources management body that will operate decentralized and centralized under a national strategic plan for water resources assessment, utilization and management and from there they should follow the governance models as they exist,” says Ms. Mimiko.
Great drop in the water level in the artificial Lake Mornos and in the Aposelemi dam in Crete – The level of the artificial lake Pinios in Ilia is at low levels
A large drop in the water level in relation to 2022 is found in two important water reservoirs in our country, according to satellite data analysis by the BEYOND Operational Unit of IAADET/EAA. Specifically, in the artificial Mornou lake, in Central Greece and in the Aposelemis dam, in Crete, after an analysis applied by the Beyond EO Center NOA with Sentinel-2 satellite images.
As the BEYOND Operational Unit of the IAADET/EAA explains, citing relevant maps, “it is clear that in both cases the water level has decreased and the difference in the drop between 2022 and 2024 is presented with a line. The surface area of their difference covers about 4700 acres and 600 acres respectively in the 2 maps.”
For its part, the climatebook page, taking into account the satellite data processed by the Sentinel-2 satellite, on July 2, 2023 finds that the total surface area of the lake was ~16.5 km², while on June 26, 2024 it was estimated to be ~12.8 km². In this particular time period, the area of the lake has shrunk by 15-20% compared to the average value since 2010.
“The area of the artificial Lake of Mornos for this particular time period is calculated as the smallest since 2010 when there are very high resolution satellite observations. It is noted that the artificial Mornos Lake is the main reservoir of Athens’ water supply”, the climatebook points out.
The above data are troubling the scientific community which is “ringing” a bell for Attica as well.
“Mornos has reached the limit of 700 million cubic meters, which means that the bells have rung. If the same situation continues, it will be able to last with the same consumption and without measures for another 2 years, I don’t know. They are already marginal. There is no way we can go through another year like this without thinking about water saving measures, especially for agricultural water, as 80% is available for agricultural production”, notes Ms. Mimikou to APE-MPE.
At the same time, a significant reduction has recently been observed in the area of the artificial lake of Pinios in Ilia due to the absence of rain, high temperatures and also as a result of the very mild winter with limited snowfall.
More specifically, according to the climatebook and taking into account the satellite data processed by the page from the Sentinel-2 satellite, on July 22, 2023 (one year ago) the total surface area of the lake was ~16.6 km², while on July 21, 2024 estimated ~9.8 km². Compared to the average value since 2010, the area of the lake today is 35-40% smaller.
As the physicist-meteorologist and scientific partner of meteo.gr and the climatebook, Stavros Dafis, explains, in 2008, when water shortage phenomena were also observed in most of the country, the numbers regarding the area and volume of water that the reservoirs had were still worse. “This year, although we are not yet close to 2008, it is still almost two months until the autumn rains start, we will see slightly worse numbers in the coming months,” he notes.
Since July 2023, according to Mr. Duffy, the rainfall that has occurred almost every month is below the average of the last 30 years. “This happens mainly in eastern mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, Crete and Dodecanese, and the Peloponnese. Kyparissia is excluded, but most of the Peloponnese is also on orange alert, regarding the lack of rainfall but also the dryness of the soil”, emphasizes Mr. Dafis and adds that the two heat waves of June and July worsened this drought situation. “The soil until May, until April was not that dry in these areas. But a sudden drought happened. Flash drought begins when we have a sudden rise in natural temperatures, stronger than normal winds and more hours of sunshine than normal, which enhance evaporation. In this way, the trees are stressed through evapotranspiration, but the soil also loses a lot of water in its first few centimeters”, underlines Mr. Dafis to APE-MBE.
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