Athens should have enough water to cope with the increased demand during the 2004 Olympic Games, according to the head of the Athens-Piraeus Water Company (EYDAP) Dimitris Xenos, who, nonetheless, warned against planting trees that require irrigation as EYDAP would not provide water for this purpose.

“In the Faliron Delta, we are prepared to supply recycled water for hydrophilic (water-loving) trees. But we are asking that the rest of the trees scheduled to be planted in Attica, about one million of them, should not require watering. There are other trees that do not need to be irrigated,” he said yesterday, addressing the opening of the Hydrorama 2002 conference, which ends today, the World Day for Water.

Xenos said that average daily water consumption during the Games, to be held in August 2004, was expected to be about 1.8 million cubic meters, according to the worst case scenario of a serious drought.

“We at EYDAP believe that consumption (during the Games) will be around 1.6 million cubic meters per day. At present, the average daily consumption in August and September is 1.4 million cubic meters,” he said.

Rain and snowfall this past winter have topped up EYDAP’s reservoirs, which now hold 536 million cubic meters of water, enough for two years, said Xenos, adding that almost 100 percent of snowfall was retrievable, but only 4-6 percent of rainfall.

The previous hydrological year (September 2000 to October 2001) saw the lowest precipitation in the past decade. Greece had also faced a dry period in the late 1980s and early 1990s.