CYPRUS - Salination of Water Resources

Water is a very valuable commodity in Cyprus. The yearly rainfall on the island is not generally adequate. Throughout the history islanders relied on underground water reserves to survive the year.

During the British collonial rule an extensive and complex network of wells were built to use the underground water resources. The British also introduced strict laws about water usage during dry summer months. However, the corrupt Turkish Cypriot leadership in north Cyprus and the political situation in Cyprus which does not allow adequate partnership and collaboration on water resources let to the salination of underground water resources.

This is now a very serious problem and many households receive domestic water which is practically unusable. This water is not very suitable for farming either. Unplanned and corrupt management of existing wells and new, deep wells using newer technologies dried up the underground reserves. This led to the invasion of the water-beds by the sea-water because of the pressure difference. When the sea water intrudes in an underground reservoir cleaning it up necessitates several years. To tackle the water-problems many schemes were developed.

However, the Turkish Cypriot leadership which is controlled by Republic of Turkey governments is a slave of their will and their funds. This meant that already corrupt Turkish bureaucracy made the decisions on these schemes. For example, many dams were built but the corrupt construction companies either wasted the funds or simply did not finish the job. Right now, many of these dams are serving as breeding grounds for migratory birds and picnic areas for Cypriots.

Eighteen dams were built up to now but only one serves for agriculture however others merely contain water till drying out and the water in them become salty. Denser water accumulate calcium and other materials down on the base and pollute land, close all orifices which cause feeding aquifer.

Then new water flowing into dams mixes with a highly condensed salty water that makes dams useless for any purpose. Turkish governments have also been promising impractical solutions such as bringing water from Turkey in large balloons pulled by ships or a pipeline under the Mediterranean sea. These are done mainly to serve the nationalist rhetoric of independent, self-reliant TRNC which survives thanks to "motherland" Turkey and suffers under Greek embargoes. Nowadays bringing water by balloons are proved to be impossible and project was dropped. Turkish authorities still talk about transferring water by ships however pipeline project was tendered to a company.

The failure of baloons has shown the uselessness of bringing expensive water but the show continues. Furthermore, the animosity between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaderships did not allow joint programs to develop to tackle this problem. In an island as small as Cyprus and with a mixed infrastructure -- which was built before the partition, it is impossible to handle the water-resources without joint programs. This is not only an environmental problem but also a very humanitarian problem.

There are many sources of funding and various methods that have been successfully employed in the region. These should have been an utmost priority for the leaderhips to implement in Cyprus, however, they could not see beyond their nationalist, self-serving rhetoric and interests.
(CAN)