With summer making its presence felt more and more, the problem of cooling is becoming more and more noticeable. Moreover, studies and projections show that in the coming years Attica will face a supply issue, hence an alternative plan is underway to address the problem.
As a result, a plan is being developed to address this issue.

Of course, the government understands that the issue is complex and requires a more comprehensive intervention. That is why today at noon a broad inter-ministerial meeting is being convened at the Bodossaki Mansion to tackle water scarcity under the government’s vice-president Kostis Hatzidakis, so that a national plan with immediate interventions will soon be drawn up and presented by Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

A number of relevant ministers (Akis Skertsos, Stavros Papastavrou, Kostas Tsiaras, Theodoros Livanios, Christos Dimas, Vassilis Kikilias, etc.) are expected to participate in today’s meeting.), secretaries general of ministries and staff members of EYDAP (George Stergios and Charis Sachinis) and DEP (George Stassi), so that they all sit at the same table and examine the issue as a whole.

The main questions that the national plan under preparation will be asked to answer are what should be the water management structures, which projects should be implemented immediately (dams, modernization of networks and so on), but also what are the water management plans, with updating of existing ones at the regional level or preparation where they do not exist.

Competent sources say that the problem is now extremely acute, as our country ranks 19th in the world in terms of the risk of water scarcity, while the use of water for water supply has more than doubled in the last decade, due to increased tourist traffic and high demand during peak months. At the same time, distribution networks are limping along, experiencing losses of up to 50%. In addition, Greece, as an agricultural country, consumes about 80% of its water resources to meet irrigation needs.

As an agricultural sector that uses only water as a source of water for its entire area of consumption, it is a major source of water consumption.

About 80% of water resources are used for irrigation purposes.
Furthermore, available surface resources are decreasing and water withdrawals are increasing, resulting in overdrafting of water. In the last 20 years, drilling has increased by 80%, while surface water use has decreased by 40%, putting pressure on aquifer supplies. Finally, despite increased rainfall in recent months, water supplies at PPC hydroelectric dams are declining due to increased demand, which poses risks to electricity costs, in addition to the given risk of water stress.