Cyprus: More plant required for our water needs

The Minister of Agriculture in Cyprus will shortly submit a proposal to the Cabinet for a new desalination plant in Episkopi. It's intended to meet growing water needs in Limassol. The Water Board is proposing a new desalination unit in Paphos. Both proposals, along with warnings from the government of forthcoming water restrictions, were spurred by a year of sparse rainfall that left the island's reservoirs at only 20% of capacity. Total water reserves are 60 million cubic liters, half of what they were at this time last year. Rainfall has declined steadily over the past three years and farmers have been forced to rely upon treated wastewater for irrigating everything except vegetable crops.