Bursting with tourists and running out of water
Several Cyclades islands are among the most popular destinations in Greece. They are also running out of water.
It’s not just the increased consumption that the crowds of visitors bring. The islands are going through a period of drought.
“The last year of plentiful rain in the Aegean was 2019,” says meteorologist Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens. Last year was the third in a row with below average rainfall. “Especially in the Cyclades and southern Crete, which have the least rainfall [in Greece], 2023 was a bad year,” Lagouvardos adds.
On the island of Naxos, the two reservoirs held 375,000 cubic meters of water a year ago. They now contain 30,000 c.m., the island’s mayor says.
The drought will hit farmers the hardest as they will have to import more foodstuffs and, in many places, rely on high-salinity water.
