2 days ago
Drought depletes Turkey's Tekirdag reservoirs, forcing emergency water curbs
A severe drought in Turkey's northwestern province of Tekirdag has left the region's main dams without potable water, forcing authorities to impose emergency restrictions and leaving some homes without running water for weeks.
Officials blame the crisis on a sharp drop in rainfall this year, which has pushed the country's freshwater supplies to their lowest level in more than five decades.
The Naip Dam, which saw no rainfall in June or July, has dried up completely, while other reservoirs in Tekirdag have reached critically low levels. Authorities are diverting irrigation water for domestic use, drilling new wells, and installing pump systems in urban areas. But with groundwater also rapidly depleting, officials warn that long-term solutions are urgently needed.
Residents in Tekirdag say they have gone weeks without water at home, resorting to hauling bottles from distant areas or traveling to Istanbul to shower and wash clothes. 'I have been living in filth for the past two months,' said Mehmet, 70, whose family has survived on sporadic supplies. His wife Fatma, 65, said they stay up at night to fill bottles in case the water comes back on.
Rainfall across Turkey fell 71 percent in July from a year earlier, according to the Meteorological Service, with precipitation in the Marmara region—home to Tekirdag and Istanbul—down 95 percent compared to seasonal norms. Officials say climate change has made Tekirdag the worst-hit province in the country, with conditions deteriorating steadily over the past decade.
