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2025-03-21 20:21:58
This summer will pose a major challenge to local authorities and residents of eastern Crete in terms of ensuring water supplies. Another almost snowless winter and prolonged periods without rainfall have led to serious deepening problems with freshwater resources.
Aposelemis Dam - photo source https://www.cretalive.gr /
Earlier this week, the Crete Development Organisation and representatives of the municipalities of Heraklion, Hersonissos and Agios Nikolaos unanimously decided to temporarily close the water intake from the Aposelemis dam. The closure of the possibility of drawing water from this reservoir is to be in force until 15 April, but the pessimistic scenario assumes that this decision will be extended until 1 May. The decision was taken unanimously because it was considered that the water stored in the reservoir should be reserved for the most difficult days of the tourist season, when the demand for it will increase dramatically. Thanks to the decision to close the Aposelemis reservoir, it will be possible to save 400 thousand m3 of water per month.
It should also be remembered that the current water supply does not fully cover the demand of the above municipalities for water supplies for the entire tourist season. In a situation where tourists are on the island, the demand for it is several times greater than the accumulated supply.
Currently, there are 3.370 million cubic meters of water left in the Aposelemis reservoir. To imagine how bad the current situation is, you have to compare it with the same period last year when there were 7.5 million cubic meters of water stored in the dam.
The water resources in Aposelemis will be reassessed on 1 April and further decisions regarding further resource management will be made on this basis.
The situation is so difficult that each forecasted deterioration in the weather is at the same time a hope for rebuilding these very modest supplies, enough to last until the end of the year. However, if the water does not increase in sufficient quantity, a new action plan will be necessary. Cretans are facing a really serious problem, to which the authorities' actions will not be enough. It will be necessary to change habits and reduce waste, and to develop other methods of obtaining water. Licenses for drilling deep wells are already being granted.
The water supply problem also affects the Ierapetra region, which draws its water from the Bramiana reservoir. This reservoir can hold 15 million m3 of water, of which 87% is used to water greenhouse crops of vegetables and fruit and olive trees. Here, too, preparations are underway to start drilling water. However, the mayor of Viannos, Pavlos Baritakis, emphasized in an interview for Radio Crete that the drought in his region has caused the groundwater level to drop by 20 meters.
Due to the severe water shortages in the region, vegetable cultivation during the summer months will not be possible, as the currently stored water must be saved for the necessary watering of olive trees in October. Mayor Baritakis also appeals to vegetable producers to take action to store rainwater.
The president of the Ierapetra Agricultural Association, Yiannis Gaitanis, spoke in the same tone, expressing concerns about the future of greenhouse crops in the region. The amount of water collected in the Bramiana reservoir is not enough to irrigate greenhouse crops such as peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers or watermelons. He estimated that this summer only 15% of producers who will be able to provide their own water supplies will be able to grow vegetables. Farmers growing crops in Messara will have to face similar difficulties.
The drought that is affecting a large area of eastern Crete is forcing people to look for new ways of obtaining water. One method could be to build tanks to collect rainwater, which is then used to water greenhouse crops. Farmers who already do this are becoming completely or partially independent of water stored in retention tanks.
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