From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek
Date: 15 Oct 92 07:20 PDT
Subject: GREECE: It could be a dry Christmas
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1473100065:000:5147
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct 15 07:20:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: GREECE: It could be a dry Christmas

/* Written 12:11 am  Oct 15, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: GREECE: It could be a dry Christmas in Athens


an inter press service feature

by nikos nomikos

athens, oct 12 (ips) -- locals driving along the motor way from
athens to thessaloniki slow down when passing the yliki reservoir,
some 90 minutes from the capital, to peer anxiously at the few
small pools of water -- all that remain of a once imposing lake.

the yliki reservoir, while not the whole story, is visible
evidence of the greatest threat to their way of life that the
inhabitants of greater athens -- now nudging four million -- have
faced this century.

unless there is exceptionally heavy rain over the next few weeks,
athens, piraeus and the surrounding towns and villages, could be
out of water by mid december.

the danger is not only to public health and hygiene. some 50,000
companies employing 250,000 people are already drawing up
contingency plans for shorter working hours or temporary closure
if the taps dry up.

the watering of public parks and gardens -- including the trees
on mount lycabettus in central athens -- has been cut back. plant
covered balconies, the pride of athenians living in city apartment
blocks, may soon be a thing of the past.

prof. dimitris christoulas, president of the state-owned athens
piraeus water company, speaks of ''nightmarish days approaching''
if the rains fail to appear.

the company is planning to introduce a rationing system based on
family size with heavy fines for over-consumption. limiting supply
to a few hours a day is not an option, said the company, because
any fall in pressure in the antiquated system would risk
contamination.

in the meantime, tenders for a six million drachma cloud seeding
project are currently being examined.

the most disturbing aspect of the crisis is that it is the direct
result, not of exceptional drought, but of rising standards of
living and population growth.

the last time athens faced a water shortage, three years ago, it
was due to a failure of the rains and finally averted by nature (a
wet winter) and money (hefty increases in water bills).

the government reaction to the 1990 scare was to launch a long
planned project to dam the evinos river in west central greece,
which would form a new reservoir.(more/ips)

greece: it could be a dry christmas in athens(2-e)

greece: it (2)

water would be pumped from there to the mornos reservoir in
central greece and from there to yliki. from yliki water goes to
the original athens reservoir behind the all-marble marathon dam,
a tourist showpiece, where the filtration and pumping plants are
situated.

but the evinos dam is still two years away from its scheduled
completion date and another year will be needed to fill the
reservoir itself.

a second project launched at the same time -- the 1000 dam
project to divert winter streams that flow into the sea -- has
faded from the public eye. and a third, to drill hundreds of
artesian wells, has had disappointing results at a very high cost.

hopes are now pinned on the evinos dam, nature and the fleet of
light aircraft that the winning company will use to seed the
clouds.

the water company estimates that greater athens consumes 360
million cubic metres of water per year. the total content of its
three serving reservoirs at present is around 180 million cubic
metres -- not all of it retrievable.

just to keep stocks at their present precarious level will
require the collection of a full year's consumption in six months.
last winter yielded 220 million cubic metres, slightly more than
the 1990 - 1991 wet season.

so far only the tabloid press has blamed the problem on climatic
changes and global warming. the bottom line is that athens has
simply been growing too fast. it is a rare family that does not
enjoy a daily bath or shower, or waters its plants every other day
and washes its car at the weekend.

as a result until 1990, annual water consumption was rising by an
average of 6.4 percent per year -- a rate reduced somewhat by the
1990 price hikes and ''save water campaigns'', but not turned into
a decline.

older athenians are hoping this year's cloud seeding will have a
better outcome than a previous attempt in 1950. then the
agriculture ministry commissioned a u.s. company to seed clouds
over marathon on a ''no cure no pay'' basis. for several months
teams squatted in the hills overlooking the lake, then ran out of
money and left.

a local village priest marked their departure with an open air
''pray for rain'' ceremony. the would-be seeders' planes were
unable to take off from athens airport because of the torrential
downpour that fell the length and breadth of the country.

suggestions have been made that the company winning this year's
seeding contract should go into partnership with the church
beforehand, to improve the odds in advance.(end/ips/nr/nn/rp/92)