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Turkish first lady urges water conservation as dam levels drop

Published

1 year ago

January 9, 2023

First lady Emine Erdoğan, a pioneer of the zero waste movement in Türkiye and the recipient of the “Climate and Development Leadership Reward,” recently called on the public to use water resources carefully, as the reserves face the possibility of running out due to climate change.

On her social media account, the first lady highlighted on Sunday that the amount of precipitation in the last three months has decreased by 40.6% and 31% compared to the same time last year, according to the long-term data, while Türkiye’s water resources are predicted to decline by 25% over the following century.

“Using water efficiently is a civic duty for all of us. The first step of our national struggle has already been taken with the Water Efficiency Campaign, which started under the leadership of our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Join us to fight the unseen disaster. Let’s conserve water together,” the first lady wrote on Twitter.

Her appeal for the rational use of water came only a few days after the official data on the condition of the dams that supply Istanbul primarily but also other provinces, including the western regions of Tekirdağ, Edirne and Kırıklareli, was shared.

According to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (ISKI) data, the water level in the dams, which rose to 89.68% last year, dropped to 32.25% as of Friday because of insufficient rainfall.

While the dams and ponds that provide water to the city have an accumulation volume of 868,63 million cubic meters (mcm), the amount of water has been measured at the level of 280.18 mcm, the latest data revealed.

Dam occupation in Alibey Dam decreased from 32% to 18%, raising concerns, Alibeyköy, Istanbul, Türkiye, Jan. 4, 2023. (IHA Photo)

The data shared raised concerns that the accumulation volume registered on Friday was one of the lowest in the last decade. Professor Dr. Levent Kurnaz, from Boğaziçi University’s Climate Change and Policies Application and Research Center, suggested dams gradually dropped their water levels as there was not enough rain in Istanbul during the last few months.

However, as per ISKI statistics conducted for the last 10 years, dam occupancy rates, which used to vary over time, showed one of the three weakest levels in the period mentioned.

According to ISKI statistics, dam occupancy rates were 64.28% in 2013, 35.44% in 2014, 73.15% in 2015, 60.81% in 2016, 55.55% in 2017 and 65.51% in 2018.

An occupancy of 86.86% was recorded in 2019, 39.31% in 2020, 19.47 in 2021 and 48.2% in 2022.

Kurnaz pointed out that despite being in the middle of the winter, Istanbul has received little precipitation saying, “This is a serious problem for us.”

Highlighting that people are accustomed to hearing warnings about the efficient use of water, mostly during the summer months, Kurnaz stated these warnings should be made for 12 months now.

Recalling that a similar situation occurred in 2021, when heavy rains began around Jan. 15 and that there were no serious problems after that, Kurnaz said: “If we head toward springs without receiving the expected rains, there will be serious water shortages because Istanbul has no water and the amount of water in the dams is decreasing day by day. The water level has dropped to around 32%, and if it continues like this, there will be a few water shortages. We may see a 20% decrease within a week. This is a grave issue for Istanbul.”

Meanwhile, professor. Dr. Aziz Akgül, the founder of the Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction (TİSVA), told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Türkiye’s water resources “can only be self-sufficient with excellent water management and operation from a single source.”

Drawing attention to the decrease in precipitation, Akgül warned that a severe crisis awaits the country in 2050 or 2100. “To minimize this danger, our water resources must be managed very carefully,” he stressed.