The water supply for the Paphos district has been secured through to 2026, regardless of weather conditions, thanks to ongoing desalination projects, according to the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Andreas Grigoriou.
Speaking at the 5th Panagia Grape Harvest Festival, Grigoriou emphasised that the Ministry's objective is to avoid any cuts to water supply.
“We are in the final stages and it looks like we will succeed in avoiding water restrictions, even though we’re only at the beginning of the new hydrological year,” he said. “We expect higher rainfall this year compared to last year’s drought.”
Grigoriou added that the Ministry is planning and preparing to ensure there are no water shortages across Cyprus. The Ministry’s strategy for the coming months, he said, is to prevent any disruption to water supply in 2026, regardless of climatic conditions.
He also expressed optimism that this year would be a good one not only for household water supply but also for boosting dam reserves — crucial for the primary sector and agricultural production, particularly large-scale crops such as vineyards and cereals, which depend on rainfall to grow and thrive.
Local authorities echo optimism
President of the Paphos District Government Organisation, Charalambos Pittokopitis, said that in full coordination with local authorities and the Paphos District Water Development Department, the issue of water management has been handled effectively and reliably under very challenging conditions — without needing to impose any water cuts on consumers.
“This has been achieved,” he noted, “and the situation is improving, especially with desalination plants beginning to contribute to water reserves.”
He explained that with the operation of desalination units producing 12,000 cubic metres of water in Potima and 15,000 cubic metres in Kouklia — a figure expected to rise to 25,000 cubic metres by summer — the issue of potable water supply for the city and district of Paphos has effectively been resolved.