A state of emergency to tackle drought

He had seen the water level astatine the Livadi dam scope such debased levels before, and adjacent little than this year. On the different hand, the land of Astypalaia had ne'er had such large needs for water: In conscionable 5 years, and successful the midst of a clime crisis, water depletion had accrued by 60%. As the politician of the island, Nikos Komineas was not willing to take such a risk. In January, the municipal assembly unanimously decided “to travel to Athens for a gathering with the minister, to submit an authoritative petition to state a state of exigency connected the Municipality of Astypalaia owed to the prolonged drought.”

And so it was. The record with each the supporting documents was submitted successful February and, three months later, successful aboriginal May, Komineas had successful his hands the long-awaited introduction astatine the Government Gazette. A temporary state of exigency was declared connected the small land of the Dodecanese, an archipelago of 15 large islands successful the southeastern Aegean Sea, owed to water shortages. “Prevention is amended than cure,” helium told Kathimerini implicit the phone.

The quality astir Astypalaia, which lone a fewer years agone had adjacent been touted arsenic the archetypal greenish and sustainable Greek island, was gloomy. “Is the land successful a hopeless situation?” I asked the mayor. “No,” helium replied directly. “We person water that tin screen the needs, but if we don’t bash something, autumn will travel and we won’t person a single driblet of water successful the dam and so the villages won’t person water. I person to marque sure that we person the quality to screen aboriginal needs,” helium explained.

The request for prevention led to the rental of a desalination works for six months, which will supply 600 cubic meters of water per day.

‘Even the determination to state a state of exigency took three months’

The exigency status gives the municipality the quality to instantly mobilize resources and accelerate time-consuming and demanding procedures. “Because we are invoking the emergency, we tin instal the temporary desalination unit successful a shorter play of time. Licensing and approvals from various bodies are not arsenic demanding, while tender procedures go shorter,” Komineas explained, noting, however, that helium did not proceed with a nonstop concession – an enactment available to him by instrumentality successful this situation – but will person offers from three companies and, aft negotiations, will take the champion λύση for the island.

To amusement the clip helium will prevention done the exigency process, helium compared it with the erstwhile acquisition of a desalination unit, which has lasted a total of two years. The unit will not beryllium acceptable this summertime and will run starting successful November. “Even the determination to state a state of exigency took three months,” helium said.

Astypalaia has go the sixth Greek land aft Symi, Patmos, Leros, Meganisi on with portion of Corfu to state a state of exigency owed to water shortages from 2025.

Kathimerini besides spoke to different municipalities that made the aforesaid request. Most admitted that declaring a state of exigency was the lone way to respond to the accelerated summation successful water supply needs connected the islands, astatine a clip when water reserves are dwindling and infrastructure is aged and worn.

“It sounds paradoxical to person so overmuch rainfall and to state an country successful a state of emergency. The conception of water scarcity, however, is not the aforesaid arsenic drought,” says Stefanos Poulimenos, politician of Central Corfu, which had its state of exigency petition approved. As helium explained, there is plentifulness of water connected the island, but the occupation is the aged and corroded supply web which loses tremendous amounts of water, limiting the volume that reaches consumers. “The water scarcity results from this,” helium said. Although the operation of a supply web is not a analyzable project, the enactment of the contractor would usually necessitate astir two to three years with the authoritative process, while now, it will not transcend three months.

Who decides

With the alteration successful the instrumentality past year, approvals for the exigency process are present issued by the Ministry of Environment and not the Ministry of Civil Protection, pursuing a affirmative sentiment from the Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste and Water (RAAEY), and with the consent of the secretary-general of Aegean and Island Policy. According to authorities sources, the instrumentality was changed to shorten the procedure, while maintaining the stricter criteria.

“RAAEY does not lone analyse whether there is simply a water shortage; the main happening is to found the emergency, that is, whether contiguous and bonzer measures and projects are required to guarantee the water supply of the area,” the authority’s president, Konstantinos Tsimaras, told Kathimerini. Some of the applications received were exaggerated and this is the crushed that astir fractional person been approved to date, helium added.

Kathimerini asked Dr Petros Varelidis, secretary-general of earthy situation and waters successful the Ministry of Environment and Energy, if helium believes that the exigency measurement is being abused. “I would not accidental it is being abused, but there is simply a misunderstanding. Most land municipalities confuse the exigency with the nonsubjective occupation of water shortage. If an land suffers from a water shortage for three years, it is not an emergency. It is very serious, but not an emergency,” helium says.

Varelidis admitted there is an nonsubjective problem: Island municipalities are usually understaffed and procedures such arsenic biology licensing are difficult. In fact, arsenic of this year, to proceed with the awarding of contracts, municipalities will person to conscionable different condition: They indispensable person managerial competence, that is, the required unit and the indispensable accusation systems that are considered sufficient to instrumentality infrastructure projects. “Almost nary land has managerial competence. This creates pressure, but we cannot judge giving projects to municipalities that are not capable to clasp tenders oregon instrumentality them,” helium said.

The Ministry of Environment earmarked astir €4 cardinal successful 2025 unsocial to land municipalities that are successful a state of emergency, of which not a single euro has yet been used.

“This is chiefly an administrative declaration,” explains Manolis Koutoulakis, secretary-general of the Aegean and Island Policy astatine the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, explaining that these strict frameworks that person been acceptable for the implementation of concessions person created obstacles to the implementation of projects and, that until they adapt, land municipalities are resorting to this measure. “We want the system to mature and strict rules to beryllium acceptable for the announcement of projects, but astatine the aforesaid clip land municipalities should not beryllium punished, particularly the smaller ones. Psara, for example, has 1 employee. We are trying to support them by financing studies and hiring technical consultants, while we aim, arsenic intermediaries betwixt the cardinal medication and the section authorities of the islands, to explicate that insularity is simply a structural problem, which does not lend itself to horizontal solutions.”

Higher cost

However, there are adjacent disagreements astir what these solutions whitethorn be. A typical illustration is the leasing of desalination plants. The Ministry of Environment does not supply backing for leasing desalination plants, arsenic it considers them to beryllium economically unprofitable.

In fact, when Astypalaia buys a unit with a capableness of 600 cubic meters of water per time for €900,000, it will besides beryllium charged €350,000 for the rental and attraction of a unit of the aforesaid capableness for astir six months. Astypalaia and Paros will some acquisition and lease desalination plants: for the purchase, they will use funds from the Ministry of Environment, while for the lease they will use funds from the Ministry of Shipping.

There is different paradox: Although the islands bask faster entree to funds for projects to summation water supply, they are not obliged to take immoderate measures to trim water consumption.

Koutoulakis said that the contented of the water equilibrium indispensable instantly beryllium included successful the nationalist debate. “We indispensable manage, not lone the supply of water, but besides the demand,” helium argued.