Cyprus - drying out

It is said the next war will be about water. If so the sun kissed but not rain blessed isle of Cyprus should figure, because they have very little left after the Government has screwed up on planning.

Two Industries vital to Cyprus need water - tourism and agriculture - the rural farmers also have big say at the ballot box. General secretary of the National Agricultural Organisation of Cyprus, Michalis Lytras told deputies on Monday that the last time Cyprus suffered as bad a drought was in 1973.“But at least back then we had plenty of ground water. Now, we don’t. If we don’t see rain this season, you are looking at the end of agriculture,” he said.

Kyriakos Kyrou, Senior Officer of the Water Development Board saya we have 2 very difficult months ahead, that there is simply not enough water to supply Cyprus.

De-salination maintenance shutdown improperly planned

In the next few days there will be a 50 % reduction in water production at the Larnaca and Dhekelia desalination plants as upgrades and expansion works are undertaken . In the meantime a small unit at the Dhekelia plant had also been temporarily put out of service for maintenance works.

Kouriss dam drying out

Limassol and it's crowd of Russians will feel the effects harshly as the Kourris Dam is fast drying up, the water from Greece is arriving in smaller quantities than initially planned and the water works for the Moni desalination plant and the Garyllis water treatment plant will be delayed.

Specifically, Kourris presently holds 700,000m³ of water, while only 300,000m³ of this can be used. The remaining water at the bottom of the dam cannot be reached as the necessary infrastructure is not there and no effort has been made to obtain it.

Arminou dam in the Paphos district holds an additional 300,000m³ but water cannot be sent as usual by underground channels, as there is too little water in addition to Limassol, Kourris dam supplies water to Larnaca, Nicosia and Famagusta.

Moni de-salination plant completion delayed

The new Moni desalination unit was to start operating by June 2008, this date was then extended to October it has now been put further back to November .. and watch this space.

This desalination plant is only expected to operate for three years, with a pumping capacity of 20,000m² of desalinated water each day which will be sold to the Water Board for €1.38 per cubic meter. This plant was a "quick fix" , legal procedures - an Environmental Impact Assessment wasn't undertaken ...

Now there are plans for a permanent desalination unit at Episkopi.

Garyllis boreholes over nitrated and need treatment

The Water Board announced in May that drilling boreholes at Garyllis River would give Limassol some extra water to make it through the summer. The Garyllis water, however, needed special treatment to make it suitable for consumption as it was high in nitrates. The treatment infrastructure will not be working until November.

Greek water shipped in in reduced quantity and distribution problems

Finally after a comedy of errors of epic propoertions Greek water is arriving not 50,000m³ of water per day, as was provided in the contract, an average of 30,000m³ per day is being unloaded every day.

1. The pumping station to transport water in areas of higher altitude in Limassol has not been completed yet, despite the fact that Ocean Tankers has a contractual obligation to do so.
2. The water is now pumped to Yermasoyia reservoir, which could not hold the 50,000m³ of water. Meanwhile, water cannot be taken to Kapsalos reservoir because of technical difficulties that would have been overcome if the pumping station was ready.
3. Unloading the water takes longer because there are no lights at the anchorage so tankers cannot operate at night.
4.Less water than the amount agreed is arriving.

Talks however with the Turks haven't broken down ... yet.

UN special envoy Alexander Downer was in Athens on Monday, and is due to have contacts in Ankara today before flying back to Cyprus tonight, while Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou was in the Greek capital.

In Nicosia, President Demetris Christofias accepted the credentials of new US ambassador Frank Urbancic, while Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat (who of course represents nobody there) was in Brussels.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told us he spoke by phone with both leaders, and with Alexander Downer ahead of tomorrow’s meeting.

Latvian and Russians in trouble

Two 20-year-old Latvians were recorded on a bank’s closed circuit camera in Limassol. During their arrest 76 forged credit cards were found in their possession as well as €2,000 and two computers. The Police report, the pair had managed to steal €3,750 from the ATM.The two suspects are believed to have used a total of 19 forged credit cards at various ATMs in Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos and to have obtained a total €7,000.

A 30-year-old Russian woman, who arrived in Cyprus on August 23, had been staying with a Russian family when an argument broke out between her and a 27-year-old woman who was putting her up.Two men, a Georgian and the Russian suspect, then allegedly took the 30-year-old to Yermasoyia dam where they demanded she pay them €3,000 or face the consequences.

She agreed and was then taken back to the Russian man’s home and kept under lock and key. On Monday she managed to escape and reported her ordeal to police.The two Russians have been arrested. They are denying all charges. Police are still looking for the Georgian man.