Cyprus is working hard to get more clean water. The island has a big problem with not enough water. The water in reservoirs is very low. It is now only 11% full. Last year, it was 26% full at this time. This shows the situation is serious. The government is using more desalination plants. These plants make seawater drinkable.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, called the water shortage "tragic." Recent rain helped a little. However, it was not enough to fill the reservoirs. Only 400,000 cubic metres of water were collected in the last day. More water is expected soon. Cyprus received very little rain recently. Other places like Greece got much more rain. Experts say Cyprus needs a lot of rain for a long time to recover.
The Water Development Department is adding more desalination units. Two new mobile units will start working in February and March. These will be in Limassol. This will bring the total number of units to nine. They can make 282,000 cubic metres of water each day. This should meet 80% of the island's water needs. More units are also planned. A new permanent unit will add another 20,000 cubic metres daily.
The government is also asking people to use less water. Golf courses in Paphos must stop using tap water for their grass. This is important to save water. A water engineer said Cyprus needs 45 million cubic metres more water. Using desalination is good now. However, Cyprus needs to find long-term solutions for water. The climate is getting drier.