Cyprus to fund desalination plants at hotels to reduce impact of water shortages on tourism

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NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Wednesday it plans to subsidize construction of private desalination plants at hotels to ensure the tourism-reliant island nation has enough fresh water too see it through busy summer seasons when the demands of millions of visitors put a severe strain on dwindling reserves.

Water levels across the country's 108 dams are at alarmingly low following the second driest winter in a decade, and the national water supply network is struggling to cope due to demand and leaks.

Maria Panayiotou, the country’s agriculture and environment minister, said the government will provide 3 million euros ($3.24 million) of funding over the next two years to help hotels build their own desalination plants. In addition, measures will be introduced to make it easier and faster for key sectors such as agriculture and tourism to build small scale desalination plants.

Cyprus will spend a further 8 million euros on fixing pipe infrastructure to reduce water leaks and losses which are estimated as high as 40%, according to Panayiotou.

The government measures build on Cyprus’ growing reliance on desalinated water. Four additional mobile desalination plants are scheduled to become operational in October, producing 30,000 cubic meters (1 million cubic feet) of drinkable water daily.

Cyprus already has four permanent desalination plants in operation, each producing 235,000 cubic meters (8.3 million cubic feet) of fresh water daily. A fifth plant is out of action due to a fire.

Panayiotou said last December that more desalination plants are needed to increase daily fresh water production fourfold over the next decade.

Cyprus continues to rely on an extensive dam network with a total capacity of 330 million cubic meters. Cyprus has more dams relative to its population than any other country in Europe, according to the minister. The dams are currently at 24.6% of capacity, compared with 47.2% in 2024, official figures show.

Tourism accounts for 13.5% of Cyprus’ gross domestic product. Tourist arrivals last year exceeded 4 million, setting a new record.