Challenges for water resources and their management in light of climate change: the case of Cyprus

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the impacts of climate change on the water resources of Cyprus with special emphasis on water availability and to evaluate the capacity of the resource itself, as well as of the government and people in Cyprus to adapt to climate change. The methodology followed includes the recording of the baseline situation and the assessment of climate change impacts and vulnerabilities. For the assessment, climate projections produced by regional climate models were used. The climate change factors, which are considered to affect the water resources in Cyprus, refer to the increase in temperature, the decrease in precipitation as well as the increase in droughts and in heavy rainfall. For the impact assessment, the changes in river and groundwater flows as well as other WSIs were studied. For the adaptation assessment, the degree of freshwater and non-freshwater resources exploitation and the measures for water demand reduction and the enhancement of drought preparedness were examined. At first, priorities with regard to climate change vulnerability, the water availability for domestic water supply and irrigation in mountain areas and the water availability for irrigation in plain and coastal areas were identified, while water availability for domestic water supply was estimated to present limited vulnerability to climate change.