Turkey formulating new law on water management: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is preparing a draft law on water management of the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 5.

“We are preparing a ‘Water Law’ in the parliament in order to reach our targets faster and to prevent conflicts in water management,” Erdoğan said, speaking at an opening ceremony of water facilities in the capital Ankara.

He emphasized that the water resources of Turkey are decreasing due to climate change and drought, as was the case in the rest of the world.

He cited the fact that the open canalette systems lead to the evaporation of up to 60 to 70 percent of the water, decreasing water usage efficiency. “From now on, we will try to use water with a closed system. We will also make our investments in this direction,” he stated.

It is imperative that Turkey take the necessary steps in the face of the worsening picture every day, Erdoğan said. “I see no difference in nature between protecting our water and protecting our homeland,” he added.

Depending on the social and economic development, the need for drinking and utility water per capita is increasing day by day, the president said, noting the fact that some 700 million people around the world were expected to migrate due to water scarcity by 2025.

The government has planned the drinking water needs of the provinces until 2040, 2050 and even 2071, Erdoğan said, underlining that one of the biggest problems in the drinking water supply in Turkey was the high rate of loss and leakage.

The municipalities continue to work to reduce the rate of water loss and leakage to 25 percent, Erdoğan said, stressing that rather than researching new water sources, they need to reduce water losses in the existing network.

“I believe that all our municipalities will show the necessary sensitivity. With a total investment of 277 billion Turkish Liras, we made a legend in this field by putting 600 dams, 423 ponds, 590 hydroelectric power plants and 1,457 irrigation facilities into service. In the last three years, we have invested 41 billion liras in the field of water,” Erdoğan stated.

The president noted that the government built 26 underground dams as an alternative to storage areas due to climate change and population growth.

Turkey also provided drinking water to Turkish Cyprus through suspended pipes under the sea, he said.

The hydroelectric power plants have removed the investment burden of $60 billion from the state, Erdoğan added.