Cyprus announced on Wednesday its groundbreaking initiative to support the development of private desalination facilities at hotels. The aim is to ensure the island nation, heavily reliant on tourism, has ample fresh water reserves to meet the demands of the bustling summer seasons when millions of visitors flock to the region, placing significant stress on dwindling water supplies.
In the aftermath of the second driest winter in a decade, water levels in Cyprus’s 108 dams have reached critically low levels. The national water supply network is struggling to cope with the surging demand and leakages. To address this pressing issue, Maria Panayiotou, the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Environment, revealed that the government will allocate 3 million euros ($3.24 million) in funding over the next two years to assist hotels in establishing their own desalination plants. Additionally, streamlined procedures will be implemented to expedite the construction of small-scale desalination facilities in key sectors such as agriculture and tourism.
Furthermore, Cyprus is set to invest an additional 8 million euros to revamp its pipe infrastructure, aiming to curb water leakages, which currently stand at a staggering 40% according to Panayiotou. Complementing these efforts, the country is scheduled to launch four new mobile desalination units in October, with a combined daily water output of 30,000 cubic meters (1 million cubic feet).
With four permanent desalination plants already operational, each capable of producing 235,000 cubic meters (8.3 million cubic feet) of fresh water daily, Cyprus’s reliance on desalinated water is steadily increasing. Despite one plant being out of commission due to a fire, Panayiotou emphasized the need for additional desalination facilities to scale up daily fresh water production by fourfold over the next decade.
Cyprus currently boasts an expansive dam network with a total capacity of 330 million cubic meters, surpassing that of any other European country relative to its population. The dams are presently at just 24.6% of capacity, down from 47.2% in 2024, as per official statistics.
Tourism plays a significant role in Cyprus’s economy, constituting 13.5% of its gross domestic product. In 2024, the country welcomed over 4 million tourists, marking a new record in tourist arrivals.
