NICOSIA - This winter’s rainfall is a “huge injection” to the island’s reservoirs, Director of the Water Development Department (WDD), Kyriacos Kyrou, has said, adding that water reserves in the country’s dams have reached 73.9% of their total capacity.

In an interview with CNA, Kyrou said that precipitation this January was the highest Cyprus has experienced the past eleven years, which resulted in large amounts of water flowing into the dams.

“This January the amount of water that flowed in the dams reached 93 million cubic metres” Kyrou noted.

He added that due to the fact that most of the rain was in the district of Paphos, on the western coast of Cyprus, various dams, including the island’s second largest – Asprokremos – and Kanaviou reservoir have overflowed. Ayia Marina dam and the third largest dam, Evretou, are also expected to overflow in the next days, he noted.

Asked how long this amount of water can last, the Director of the WDD underlined that with proper management it can last three to four years, covering the population’s water needs and those of the farmers’ as well.

On the possibility of future water supply cuts, Kyrou said this is no longer on the cards, indicating that water must be saved through irrigation, by producing low-water-consuming crops that bring to the farmers a good income as well.

Referring to desalination plants currently under construction, the Director of the WDD said that work at Episkopi desalination plant, with a nominal capacity of 40000 cubic metres of water per day, is expected to be concluded in late May, while Vassilikos desalination plant is expected to come into operation in March 2013.

“Having these two new desalination plants, Cyprus will be in a position to cover its greatest water supply needs,” Kyrou pointed out, adding that water remaining in the dams will be used for irrigation.

Asked whether water supply systems should be renewed to avoid leakage, he indicated that in other countries water loss as a result of leakage in the system reaches 30-40%. “Compared to other countries water loss is much lower in Cyprus” he said, adding that WDD’s responsibility is to make sure that central pipes are kept in a good condition.

Kyrou noted that Cyprus should have incorporated into its domestic legal system article 9 of the EU Water Framework Directive which refers to water pricing policies. The Parliament has not yet approved the relevant bill, the Director of WDD said, noting that the EU could impose a fine on Cyprus if the Parliament does not approve the bill, which should have been approved by late 2010.

The WDD also focuses its efforts on intergrading into its domestic legal system the EU Water Framework Directive in general, which aims at preventing further deterioration of all water and achieving a “good status” by 2015. According to Kyrou, Cyprus has already adopted its River Basin Management Plan and feels optimistic that the goal will be achieved by 2015, despite difficulties deriving from reductions in its budget.

The Director of the WDD commented on a new study recently carried out by the Department in accordance with the 2010 Law on flooding and the EU floods Directive. He explained that the Directive provides for the creation of flood maps and maps of the areas of potentially significant flood risk, which show the size of the damage in case of floods, by December 2013. The next stage is, as he explained, to create and implement, by December 2015, flood management plans. The Report on the identification of areas of potentially significant flood risk, recently presented, has revealed 19 such areas and more studies will be carried out to identify possible risks for the citizens and their properties.

Kyriacos Kyrou told CNA that by 2015 Cyprus will own a comprehensive sewerage system. “We are trying to conclude the work by 2015” he said, adding that work has been delayed because of liquidity problems the state is facing as a result of the financial crisis and because of a large amount of objections submitted before the Tenders Review Authority and the courts.

The Water Development Department hopes that discussions on EU water policy will conclude during Cyprus’ EU presidency term, in the second half of 2012, Kyrou noted.