“THE TRNC IS A WATER-POOR COUNTRY”
THE water pipeline project, dubbed the “Project of the Century”, that was “brought to life in order to meet the TRNC’s long-term waters needs” has been bringing 75 million m3 of water from Turkey to the TRNC annually since October 2015, Waterworks Department director Tarkan Çeki said.
It came into being after a previous scheme in the late 1990s that involved floating drinking water across the Mediterranean Sea in special “balloons” had to be abandoned after they kept bursting.
In an interview with the TAK news agency about World Water Day, Mr Çeki suggested that the TRNC is among “poor countries in terms of its water resources”.
“Right now, the TRNC’s annual water consumption is 42 million m3,” he said. “Of this, 31 million m3 is currently met by the water from Turkey while local resources provide the remaining 11 million m3.”
The role of local water resources is set to diminish even further “when a 245-km pipe [network] tender by Turkey’s State Hydraulic Works Directorate is finalised”.
According to Mr Çeki, before the pipeline was introduced the TRNC’s water needs were largely met by underground resources and the desalinisation of sea water.
He stressed that water coming from Turkey is a “great relief” and that due to the drought and water stress experienced prior to Turkish water aid, a lot of underground water has become “unusable in many areas” in terms of quality and quantity.
The water used by the agriculture sector is largely supplied by underground water resources and “a little bit” from reservoirs, he said. Reservoirs are also used in feeding the underground water resources, he added.
Mr Çeki said that areas that receive water from local resources will be given water that comes from Turkey, which he said will help protect the local resources by allowing them to recover from overuse.
The Waterworks Department is working on a project, named “Stage 2”, the tender for which is “expected to be issued this year”.
However, the TRNC’s long-term reliance on Turkey for water is under question due to the fact that there are 10 provinces in Turkey – including İstanbul and Ankara – that have been declared water-scarce by the World Wildlife Fund.