Nicosia proposes creating a single body to manage Cyprus’s water resources

Cyprus needs a single independent professional body responsible for managing water resources, said Constantinos Yiorkatzis, president of the Nicosia District Local Government Organisation (EOA). In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency, he proposed transferring the entire chain to such a structure — from water supply and sewerage to irrigation, billing consumers and investing in future infrastructure.

Yiorkatzis identified the lack of a single stormwater drainage network as the main problem: before local government reform, each municipality maintained its own rainwater drainage system. He said the consequences of the bad weather in August highlighted this issue.

Work to repair and reinforce the stormwater collector on Digeni Akrita Avenue, on the section between Vasilopotamos and Kotsirka, will begin next month. The project will cost €2.3 million. In addition, the organisation is preparing a project for stormwater collectors between Lakatamia and Strovolos, near the APOEL stadium; work is expected to begin in early 2027.

Following the August rains in the Engomi area, the organisation identified several problem spots: in some places there is no network at all, while in others the diameter of the existing pipes is insufficient. The EOA is preparing for new storms by expanding the capacity of its own workshops so that it can carry out systematic network maintenance every year, alongside street cleaning by the municipalities.

Yiorkatzis does not consider desalination the only solution, as it requires substantial energy and financial resources. “We welcome the government’s announcement of three new desalination plants,” he said, adding that increasing water production alone is not enough. What is needed is rational resource management, rainwater collection, network modernisation, systematic water recycling, smart monitoring and linking water production to renewable energy sources.