Greece unveils national plan to tackle worsening water scarcity
The national plan addresses the urgent need for reform, with the aim of preparing Greece for the major challenges of the next 30 years.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that water is and will remain a public good and a resource of vital importance and that it must be treated as such.
The meeting included a detailed presentation of scientific data, which clearly shows the magnitude of the problem the climate crisis is causing in all Mediterranean countries, taking into account that Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world.
According to the data, Greece ranks 19th in the world in terms of the risk of water scarcity. Dam levels are at historically low levels, and reservoirs in Attica are now more than 50 per cent lower than in 2022.
The Greek government's decisions on water
Against this background, Greece is looking at a more holistic way of dealing with the issue compared to the fragmentation between different actors that exists today. The government is implementing a radical change in the country's water management model to a more functional system, with greater efficiency and more investment.
New technologies will be used, as well as complementary ways of producing water, such as desalination.
The five main pillars of the plan are:
- Water is and will remain a public good, as provided for in the Constitution and the case law of the Council of State
- Sustainable water supply, irrigation and wastewater companies, aiming at acceptable costs for all uses.
- Holistic planning and centralised management of all necessary projects, large and small
- Urgent initiatives over the next six months, combined with an information and awareness-raising campaign
- New technologies and complementary ways of producing water (desalination, recycling and reuse)
The planning will also lay the foundations for the implementation of projects already underway or under consideration. More than 1,200 water management and recovery projects are currently underway, of which 1,090 are for water supply and 237 for irrigation.
It is noted that these projects are in addition to the 278 projects already completed from 2019 to date.
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