Better water management is needed in the EU amid continued shortages in Cyprus, Malta and other EU member states, said the European Commission in a report published on World Water Day (March 22nd).
"The balance between water demand and availability has reached a critical level in many areas of Europe," said the Commission.
France, Hungary, the UK, Portugal and Spain reported droughts or rainfall levels lower than the long term average between 2009-2010, according to the report.
Better water management needed
Very few member states have introduced legislation to improve water efficiency in buildings. And measures to address illegal water usage and losses from water distribution networks are also still lacking in many parts of Europe, according to the report.
2012 Water Policy Review
An upcoming water policy review in 2010 by the Commission will focus on:
- water efficiency in agriculture and the urban environment,
- better planning, for example by integrating water scarcity and droughts into River Basin Management Plans and sectoral policies, and
- appropriate implementation instruments, such as water pricing and water allocation.
Water-Saving Technology Exhibition, Cyprus
From 22 – 25 March 2011, 10:00 until 17:00 at the Ledra Street/Lokmaci Crossing, Nicosia, the Technical Committee on Environment will launch the Water Saving Technology Exhibition.
The exhibition will help raise awareness about sustaining healthy ecosystems through addressing challenges in water management.
Invited speakers include the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Mayors of Nicosia, Eleni Mavrou and Cemal Bulutoðlularý, the Representatives of the leaders of the Turkish Cypriot Community and Greek Cypriot Community, Kudret Özersay and Georgios Iacovou, the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus, Frank C. Urbancic Jr. and the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Alexander Downer.
Under the auspices of the Technical Committee on Environment, this Water-Saving Technology Exhibition is part of the project on “Awareness Raising Measures for Water Saving,” which was launched last November. The exhibition, which will showcase water-saving technologies available for home and garden usage, will run from 22 to 25 March and will be open to the general public from 10:00 until 17:00 every day.
The project “Awareness Raising Measures for Water-Saving” is a confidence-building measure implemented on behalf of the Technical Committee on Environment and supported by the United Nations Development Programme-Action for Cooperation and Trust (UNDP-ACT). It is implemented by the AKTI Project and Research Centre and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Environmental Engineers, in co-operation with the Cyprus Environmental Stakeholder Forum and the Regional Network for Sustainable Future. This project is one of 23 confidence-building measures approved by the Cyprus leaders in July 2008.
“This project is the live proof of how nature and the environment can bring the two communities together and contribute towards building cooperation and trust”, said the Greek Cypriot Head of the Technical Committee on Environment, Costas Kadis.
Mustafa Alkaravlý, the Turkish Cypriot Head of the Technical Committee on Environment, highlighted that “Water is vital as a source of life, therefore it is extremely important that it is used correctly and conscientiously. No matter how plentiful resources may be, water saving must feature high on everyone’s agenda”.
(Note: article first published on CyprusNewsReport.com, written by Sarah Fenwick)