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As climate change continues to wreak havoc on weather patterns around the world, many countries are having to deal with drought and water scarcity. In a bid to tackle the issue in Europe, the EU has launched a union-wide campaign that relies on input from all the different member states.
Curious? Check out this gallery to learn more about the water crisis facing the EU and the plans to combat it.
As climate change continues to increase the risk of extreme weather, more and more European countries are experiencing droughts and flooding.
As a result, water is becoming increasingly scarce. And where water is scarce, quality tends to drop.
In certain parts of the EU, the tap water is so unreliable that residents have to rely on plastic bottled water just to cook.
In a bid to tackle this crisis, the EU plans to invest billions of euros in a campaign that will help to restore water security and resilience.
Water scarcity is a problem in many European countries for two main reasons. The first is climate change.
Particularly in southern Europe, many countries are experiencing more erratic rainfall and hotter temperatures as a result of global warming.
The second important reason for water scarcity is pipe leaks. Greece, for example, is estimated to lose over 40% of drinking water due to pipe leaks and theft.
Take the Argolida region of southern Greece, for instance. Here, water escapes through cracks in an irrigation canal that feeds a plain of orange trees.
According to officials, the underground pipes lose more than half the water that is pumped through them.
In many areas where drinking water is scarce, the result is a drop in water quality. In Argolida’s capital, Nafplion, residents are advised not to consume the tap water during the summer.
According to residents, the brackish water is noticeably different from the normal drinking water, both in the way it smells and the way it dries out clothes.
Between June and November 2022-24, authorities tested the water supplied by Anavalos. The findings were not reassuring.
Investigators found higher than permitted levels of chlorides and sodium. This can be dangerous for people who have blood pressure or kidney problems.
Nafplion is not the only city in Greece where residents have limited access to drinking water, either.
In the coastal town of Ermioni, for example, data from the local authorities suggests that only 8% of residents have permanent access to clean drinking water.
In many cases, residents must rely on plastic bottled water, even for cooking—a solution that obviously has its own environmental consequences.
Both the summer and the winter of 2024 were the hottest on record, and many areas of the country went without rainfall for months.
There is also the added complication that in Greece, the debt crisis of 2009 to 2018 has resulted in years of under-investment.
As a result, the water infrastructure in Greece is in a worse spot than in many other countries.
According to government statistics, Greece loses almost half its drinking water to leaky pipes and theft. That is nearly twice the EU average, which is 23%.
Since 2019, the Greek government has spent more than 1.5 billion euros on improving drinking water infrastructure.
However, the situation in the orange-growing hub Argolida shows that much more change is needed.
As previously mentioned, the EU recently launched a campaign that aims to tackle the climate change-induced water crisis.
As part of the campaign, it has given all the member states until 2026 to assess their water leakage levels.
The overarching aim of the European Water Resilience Strategy is to establish a clear path towards better water security and resilience.
The aim is to achieve this by ensuring the availability of clean water and better protecting the Union against water-related risks.
Sources: (Reuters) (European Commission)
See also: Europe's cleanest waters, ranked
The EU's giant water conservation challenge
Tackling the climate-driven water crisis
LIFESTYLE Sustainability
As climate change continues to wreak havoc on weather patterns around the world, many countries are having to deal with drought and water scarcity. In a bid to tackle the issue in Europe, the EU has launched a union-wide campaign that relies on input from all the different member states.
Curious? Check out this gallery to learn more about the water crisis facing the EU and the plans to combat it.