Türkiye’s tourism hub grapples with water crisis

MUĞLA

With Türkiye’s tourism hub of Bodrum experiencing water scarcity due to the closure of its two dams amid severe drought, the municipality has initiated supplying water to its residents through tankers.

In the Aegean province of Muğla’s Bodrum, a decline in precipitation triggered by the climate crisis and ruptures in water distribution pipelines have caused the water level at Mumcular Dam to plummet to 8 percent. The dam was closed to water intake two weeks ago. Similarly, water intake from the Geyik Dam, which also feeds the city and saw its water level drop to a critical 13 percent, was halted last week.

"The Bodrum Municipality has allocated four additional vehicles for water transportation to various points across the peninsula on top of the three vehicles currently in use. We will continue our planned water supplementation services with a total of seven vehicles in the coming period," said an official statement from the municipality.

Between August and October, tankers delivered 2,432 tons of water to 915 households in several neighborhoods of Bodrum, the statement added.

"Bodrum faces a water issue. Our Mumcular Dam has been closed due to the depletion of water volume. Mumcular Dam was a 5-million-cubic-meter water source, combined with underground water resources, brought to the treatment plant, purified and then supplied to Bodrum," explained Baki Ülgen, a senior official from the Muğla Municipality.

Making a comparison with Istanbul's water problem, Ülgen noted that they draw water from the bottom of dams, known as "dead volume" to partially meet the demand. He suggested that a similar approach could work for Bodrum's problem.

"Water conservation has become imperative for Bodrum. We need to cut down on extravagant consumption, redirecting the use of water in pools and eliminating excessive luxury use. I recommend reserving water solely for essential consumption."