Northern Greece Faces Severe Water Crisis Amid Drought and Heatwaves

Water Crisis in Northern Greece: An Escalating Challenge

Northern Greece is grappling with a severe water crisis, primarily driven by an extended period of drought that has been intensified by consecutive heatwaves this summer. Like many other regions, the area has faced below-average rainfall for up to three years, leading to an alarming expansion of drought-affected zones across the landscape.

The repercussions of this crisis are profound, manifesting in water shortages, desiccated lakes, and even the tragic demise of local wildlife, such as wild horses. A striking example is Lake Picrolimni, once a favored destination for visitors seeking therapeutic mud baths. This summer, however, it resembles a barren expanse of cracked earth, sturdy enough to support the weight of a vehicle. Local municipal chairman, Costas Partsis, lamented, “It hasn’t rained at all for two years, so the lake has totally dried up. It used to have a lot of water. People would come to swim.” He further noted that the clay from the lake, renowned for its healing properties, has seen no visitors this year.

Similarly, Lake Doirani, which straddles the border between Greece and North Macedonia, has dramatically receded by 300 meters. Local officials are urgently appealing to public works departments to restore the river’s water supply, uniting their voices with experts who assert that substantial reforms in water management practices are essential to alleviate the adverse effects of climate change.

Urgent Need for Improved Water Management

Konstantinos S. Voudouris, a hydrogeology professor at the University of Thessaloniki, emphasizes that the outdated water infrastructure is leading to excessive water loss. He advocates for significant improvements focused on:

• Collecting and storing rainwater during the wet season.
• Reusing treated wastewater for agricultural purposes.

The water crisis is not only affecting the environment but also the agricultural community. With just six weeks remaining before the harvest season, olive farmer Dimitris Papadakis expresses his distress, stating that there is no moisture left in the ground, compelling him to seek water from external sources. “Our boreholes have almost dried up. We now depend on tankers to irrigate our fields,” explains Papadakis, who leads an agricultural cooperative in a village located on the Halkidiki peninsula.

The situation has been further complicated by an influx of tourists during the peak season. In Kassandra, the westernmost part of the peninsula, the resident population swells from 17,000 to an astonishing 650,000 in the summer months, creating unsustainable pressure on already strained water resources.