Experts call for urgent conservation strategy as Crete faces water shortages
Crete urgently needs a comprehensive water resources management plan or it faces severe drought, a group of experts from the University of Crete’s (UOC) Museum of Natural History have warned.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the UOC team described current conditions on the southern Aegean island as “extreme” after “very disappointing” findings in the hydrological data, stemming from very low rainfall and snowfall and two years of very high temperatures.
“Nature may still have certain adaptation mechanisms, but as the summer progresses and needs rise with the peak of the tourism season in August, the problem will grow in many parts of the island,” they said.
Warning of the inevitability of tensions between residents, farmers and the tourism industry over water resources in the not-so-distant future, the experts called for a series of measures to curb waste, starting with restrictions on usage in cities and an awareness-raising campaign at tourist facilities, and including much-needed repairs and upgrades to the water network.
In the long-term, the primary sector needs to adapt to the principles of agroecology, while a central water management agency responsible for organizing supplies, networks and pricing policies is essential, they added.
Similar problems with drought and water shortages are being reported all over the country, including more recently in Corinth, in Messinia in the southwestern Peloponnese and on the island of Kythera, an increasingly popular tourist destination, off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese.
