Water in Cyprus: Current Conditions and Future Perspectives

Manfred A. Lange is Director of the Energy, Environment and Water Research Center of The Cyprus Institute.

The island of Cyprus covers an area of 9,251 km². In this paper, I will address primarily the situation in the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, the area under control of the Cypriot government in the southern part of the divided island, covering 5,896 km². The northern part of the island (3,355 km²) has been under Turkish occupation since 1974. Although water does flow across socio-political borders, and the future of these boundaries is as uncertain as the impacts of climate change, flows of information are currently somewhat limited. Thus, references to Cyprus in this paper generally refer to the government-controlled part of Cyprus, unless stated otherwise.

 

The topography of the island is characterised by the large Troodos Massive in the south-west (highest point: Mount Olympus 1,951 m), the northern Pentadaktylos Range (maximum elevation 1,024 m) and an extended central plain, the Mesaoria Plain (Figure 1).

 

FIGURE 1
Physiographic Features of Cyprus Based on MODIS Satellite Picture  

 

 

Source: NASA (accessible at http://www.archive.org/details/modis_cyprus).

 

A substantial amount of the land surface is used for agricultural production. Figure 2 provides more details on land-cover/land-use units and their extent in Cyprus.

 

FIGURE 2
Land Cover 2000 of the Island of Cyprus (Agricultural Land in Bold)

 

Land Cover	%
Artificial surfaces (urban, industry, mines, urban landscaping)	7.6
Non-irrigated arable land	26.4
Permanently irrigated lands	2.1
Permanent crops	3.9
Heterogeneous agricultural areas	15.5
Pastures	0.1
Natural grasslands, shrubs, burnt areas, bare areas	27.3
Forests	16.8
Salt marshes and water bodies	0.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: CORINE (“Coordination of Information on the Environment”, a programme initiated by the European Union), and MANRE (Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of the Republic of Cyprus), 2005.

 

 

Cyprus has a temperate, Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers from mid-May to mid-September and rainy, rather changeable, winters from November to mid-March, with short spring and autumn seasons.

 

The population of the government-controlled area of Cyprus amounted to 838,897 according to the census of October 2011, with approximately 70 per cent of the people living in urban areas, which are dominated by the four district capitals of Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos and their surrounding communities. The population in the Turkish-occupied area was estimated at 265,100 (2006 census), bringing the total population of the island to 1,103,997.

 

The economy of Cyprus is dominated by the tertiary sector (76.7 per cent of GDP and 72 per cent of total gainful employment in 2006), which comprises activities mainly in financial services, construction and real estate, shipping and tourism. In 2006, agriculture accounted for only 2.6 per cent of GDP, construction for 8.6 per cent and manufacturing for 9.2 per cent. Figure 3 illustrates graphically the shift in the economic structure of Cyprus over recent decades from a mainly primary sector–oriented to a third sector–dominated economy.

 

FIGURE 3
Structural Shift of the Cyprus Economy from 1960 to 2011

 

 

Source: (CYSTAT, Statistical Services of Cyprus, 2012).

 

In May 2004, Cyprus became a full member of the European Union and in January 2008 the country joined the Eurozone, adopting the euro as its currency. This implies that Cyprus, like all members of the European Union, will have to abide by EU rules and regulations pertaining to the water sector, such as the Water Framework Directive.

Water Supply and Water Scarcity

Precipitation and Water Supply: The Water Balance of Cyprus

Figure 4 illustrates the current view of the overall water balance for Cyprus. As can be seen, the lion’s share of the water provided by precipitation—2,670 million cubic metres (MCM)—is quickly lost through evapotranspiration (2,300 MCM or 86 per cent of the water falling in Cyprus as precipitation). Of the remaining 370 MCM, 64 per cent is available as surface water (235 MCM) and 36 per cent as groundwater. A substantial amount of the available water (118 MCM or 32 per cent) is estimated to be lost to the sea either by surface flow or as sub-sea groundwater discharge.

 

FIGURE 4

 

 

 

Source: Water Development Department, Cyprus (2011).

 

Cyprus has an intense Mediterranean climate, with rain mainly falling between October and May. The central Troodos Massif plays an important role in the meteorology of Cyprus, as can be seen in the distribution of the rain over the island. The average annual precipitation increases up the south-western windward slopes from 450 mm to nearly 1,100 mm at the top of the Troodos. Rain decreases steadily northwards and eastwards on the leeward slopes to between 300 and 350 mm in the central plain and the flat south-eastern parts of the island.

 

The island of Cyprus has in the past frequently suffered from droughts leaving inhabitants with scarce supplies of water. Decades of groundwater pumping for irrigation have resulted in the depletion and contamination of groundwater reserves and salt-water intrusion in coastal aquifers.

 

As part of a study carried out by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), a more detailed analysis of the changes in precipitation in the government-controlled area of Cyprus has been conducted. Frédéric Rossel analysed forty-four stations, divided into eight regions, for the 1916/17–1999/2000 period.¹ He found a statistically significant step-change between 1968/69 and 1969/70 for seven regions and between 1970/71 and 1971/72 for the Mesaoria plain region. Figure 5 shows annual precipitation values over the government-controlled part of Cyprus, based on rain gauge measurements.

 

 

FIGURE 5
Annual Precipitation Values in Cyprus

 

 

 

Source: Water Development Department, Cyprus.
Note: Annual precipitation and averages (solid black lines) for the periods 1901–1970 and 1971–2002, respectively, over the government-controlled area of Cyprus...

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