Declining reservoir levels force İzmir to rely on groundwater: Expert
İZMİR
As water levels in İzmir’s reservoirs continue to drop, the city has increasingly turned to groundwater sources to meet its demand for drinking water.
However, experts caution that over-reliance on these underground reserves poses environmental risks and requires stringent management.
According to Alper Baba, head of the International Water Resources Department at İzmir Institute of Technology, the city’s dependence on groundwater necessitates rigorous conservation efforts and effective oversight.
”Excessive extraction in coastal areas has already led to a sharp increase in salinization problems, which require immediate intervention,” he said.
Local authorities are actively exploring alternative solutions, but if current trends continue Baba warned that the city may soon face water restrictions and shortages.
The decline in reservoir levels has been driven by reduced rainfall. Historically, the average precipitation in the Aegean region between Oct. 1 and Feb. 28 has been 373.4 kilograms per square meter.
However, this year, rainfall during the same period was recorded at only 269.6 kilograms — 28 percent below the long-term average and 20 percent lower than last year’s levels.
Following a dry autumn and winter, March also failed to bring the expected rainfall.
According to data from the İzmir Water and Sewerage Administration (İZSU) as of March 22, all of the city’s reservoirs have seen significant decreases in water levels compared to the same period last year.
The rate at Tahtalı Dam, which supplies nearly half of İzmir’s drinking water under normal conditions, has plummeted from 32 percent to just 15 percent.
“Its water level is critically low. If we don’t receive substantial rainfall, the dam could soon reach ‘dead storage’ at 10 percent, making the remaining water unusable. This would push İzmir to depend almost entirely on groundwater," Baba explained.
