The assessment of a water budget of North Cyprus

The assessment of a water budget of North Cyprus

ARTICLE IN PRESS Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1671–1677 www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv The assessment of a water budget of North Cyprus G. E...

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ARTICLE IN PRESS

Building and Environment 41 (2006) 1671–1677 www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

The assessment of a water budget of North Cyprus G. Elkirana,, M. Ergilb a

Department of Civil Engineering, European University of Lefke, North Cyprus Department of Civil Engineering, Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus

b

Received 18 March 2005; received in revised form 19 May 2005; accepted 13 June 2005

Abstract Water scarcity in North Cyprus (NC) began in the 1960s and is still tremendously increasing. Thus far no serious measurements have been taken to address this problem. Increased water demands led to extraction of water from unrestricted groundwater resources. Extreme water extractions caused the salinization of coastal aquifers up to brackish waters and the consequent depletion of interior aquifers. Such a situation requires precise control of water resources through an integrated water resources management (IWRM). Although the situation has reached an alarming state, no detailed research has been performed to establish the present demands of water in order to anticipate the future demands. Hence, this study, based on the IWRM approach, examines water budget of the country. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Water budget; Water scarce; Water demands; Water withdrawals; Inter-country water transfer; North cyprus

1. Introduction Cyprus is the third biggest island in the Eastern Mediterranean and has a typical Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild wet winters with rainfall occurring mainly between November and March. The average annual precipitation of the island as a whole is 500 mm with an average of 300–400 mm in the central plain to nearly 1200 mm at the highest point of the Trodos Mountains [1,2]. In North Cyprus (NC), the average temperature ranges from 5 to 15 1C in January and reaches above 40 1C in July. Hence, the annual evaporation according to Class A Pan readings reaches up to 2200 mm/year. Recently, research has revealed that almost 80% of the rainfall returns to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration [3]. Water shortage in Cyprus began in the 1960s. So far no serious studies were carried out to address the severity of the situation. As the island’s dilemma Corresponding author.

E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Elkiran). 0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2005.06.014

worsens some of the island’s aquifers are being completely depleted, and the salinization of coastal aquifers with up to 5000 ppm TDS is bringing about brackish water characteristics [3]. Aquifers in NC are the island’s main water resource since no perennial streams are available. There are 13 groups of aquifers in the country of which three of them are the main ones. Magosa (MMR) coastal aquifer is no longer in use due to a high degree of salt-water intrusion. Guzelyurt coastal aquifer is the biggest aquifer in NC, providing water not only to its region but also to the whole country. Alarmingly, it also faces salt-water intrusion due to water extraction above the safe threshold. The Girne (GMR) aquifer supplies water to its Karsty region and is considered to be balanced. The backbone of the country’s economy is agriculture primarily consisting of small-scale farming. In particular, citrus fruit production comprises the majority of the agricultural products and enjoys a high value of exportation [4]. Hence, the demand of water for irrigation purposes plays a great role for efficient production, and especially for the citrus fruit production

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Y. Erenkoy Region N Mehmetcik Region Girne

Guzelyurt Region Lefke

Region

G.East

Region Bogaz Region

C. Lefkosa Region Lefkosa

Gecit. Region

G.West Region Degir. Region

Ercan Region

Gonen. Region

Y. Isk Region

Mag. B Region

Camlibel Region

Akdogan Region

Mag. A Region Magosa 0

20

40 km

Fig. 1. Main agricultural regions and sub-regions of NC

requiring more water than the other fruit crops presently grown in the country [3,5]. Badly managed irrigation, old irrigation techniques, and poor conveyance efficiency due to very old pipeline installations contributed to the over-extraction of water from the available resources causing not only higher values of salt contamination due to the salt-water intrusion along the coastal aquifers, but also the depletion of some of the small volume aquifers in the interior part of the island [6]. NC is divided into three main regions: Lefkosa (LMR), Magosa (MMR) and Girne (GMR), and 17 sub-regions (Fig. 1). The regional distribution of lands and irrigated areas based on the year 2001 are presented in Table 1. NC has a population of 200,000 with an irrigable land of nearly 87 km2. The foreign students within the universities are about 26,000 and the tourism sector with more than 100 hotels has a total bed capacity of 3000 [7,8]. On the other hand, the population of stock farming is 300,000. The consumptive water supplies (CWS) for these major groups are summarized in Table 2. In this study, the water requirements for all the sectors within the country were investigated in the 17 sub-regions of the country. Thus, the water deficiencies of the aquifers, water supply, sector-wide water consumption, water losses due to the old conveyance systems and the amount of water wasted due to low efficiency of irrigation systems are examined.

2. Water budget of NC The complete data on available water resources, water withdrawals and sector wise use, as well as monthly

balance of water resources vs. water consumption are summarized in Tables 3–5.

2.1. Domestic water supply Drinking water in NC is mainly obtained from 128 local wells and boreholes as well as through small semiperennial springs [9,10]. Due to water scarcity experienced within NC, several alternatives were tried. One of these is water transport by ‘‘medusa’’ which involved huge water bags towed by tankers. This approach added to the water budget between 1998 and 2002, but it is not found to be successful from the quantity viewpoint since only a total of 4.1 MCM of water was transported (Table 4). In fact, the expected quantity was only 5 MCM/year. Consequently, the agreement with the transporting company was cancelled. Furthermore, a recent 2004 agreement with Inbar Water Distribution (Israel) to transport water by ‘‘medusa’’ has been cancelled [10]. Growing demand for water and the resulting deficiency has encouraged some private companies to use small-scale desalination plants operating the reverse osmosis method to meet their needs. However, the quantity of desalinated seawater never reached the desired level yielding only 0.1 MCM in 2001 (Table 4) [3]. Institutional reuse of effluent water occurs in relatively small quantities for purposes of irrigating playgrounds and urban greens. In such a way, the reclaimed wastewater is contributing to the domestic water supply [8,10].

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Table 1 Regional land distribution of North Cyprus (2001) Regions

Type of Land (are) Agricultural

Forest

Grazing

Unused

Total

Irrigated

LMR C. Lefkosa Degirmenlik Ercan Guzelyurt Lefke

5,934,320 1,412,262 726,760 1,648,210 1,696,330 450,758

500,524 3505 183,131 2863 42,957 268,068

455,640 51,117 69,271 48,214 276,563 10,475

1,943,703 442,598 162,743 271,199 558,317 508,846

8,834,189 1,909,482 1,141,906 1,970,486 2,574,168 1,238,147

728,780 2194 13,619 9913 642,933 60,121

MMR Magosa A Magosa B Akdogan Y. Erenkoy Mehmetcik Y. Iskele Gonendere Gecitkale

9,903,721 834,279 1,225,264 1,774,766 1,486,711 1,244,689 998,387 989,490 1,350,135

3,461,142 36,562 1632 3358 1,296,114 559,013 602,478 238,356 723,629

1,020,434 79,800 94,475 111,198 112,175 96,215 159,506 165,111 201,954

3,327,645 495,508 392,056 783,576 527,495 240,510 416,578 156,362 315,560

17,712,939 1,446,148 1,713,427 2,672,898 3,422,494 2,140,426 2,176,948 1,549,320 2,591,278

166,755 45,298 10,020 39,478 30,622 14,662 15,197 3719 7759

GMR Girne East Girne West Bogaz Camlibel

2,866,050 464,551 272,189 675,469 1,453,841

2,469,673 850,159 403,895 272,764 942,855

158,142 25,218 776 72,027 60,121

943,163 308,590 154,048 182,262 298,263

6,437,026 1,648,517 830,908 1,202,522 2,755,079

85,017 12,187 45,606 7425 19,799

North Cyprus

18,704,091

6,431,339

1,634,216

6,214,511

32,984,154

980,552

Table 2 Consumptive water supply (CWS) of different sectors in North Cyprus [3] Sectors

Consumptive water supply, liter/day/capita

Residents Universities Tourism Cattle Sheep

250 150 200 50 15

2.2. Agricultural water supply The groundwater resources supply water not only to the municipalities but also to the agricultural sector. The island’s aquifers are categorized into 13 groups within 8 hydrologic regions that exhibit variable capacities [6]. Based on the estimates proposed by Ozturk [11], the safe yield of annual water extractions amounts to 74.1 MCM. To satisfy the water requirements an estimated 28.9 MCM of additional water is extracted from these aquifers [5]. There are currently 18 out of 41 dams with a total capacity of almost 19 MCM providing water to the agricultural sector. The quantity of the water used in this sector is variable and depends upon the drought conditions affecting the country. Owing to mismanagement, the water stored in the dams is depleted due to high evaporation effects [10,11].

NC receives rainfall of variable intensity, from 294.7 mm at MMR to 456.6 mm at GMR, yielding a countrywide average of 373.3 mm/year [12]. Recent research on rainfall in Southern Cyprus indicates that there is presently 14% less rainfall than the beginning of this century. Also revealed is that only 20% of this present rainfall in fact contributes to the water budget. The remaining portion returns to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration [12,13]. Seasonal spring flows are also used for the irrigation of crops, providing 0.6 MCM of water per year. However, the actual quantity depends upon the rainfall intensity during the year [11]. Water outputs are irrigation, municipal needs, industrial water consumption, livestock farming, pipelines and network system losses, unused effluent water and uncontrolled small seasonal streams that directly flow into the sea (Fig. 2).

3. Integrated water resource analysis 3.1. Domestic water supply The municipal water system in NC supplies water to its residents, to its universities, small industry, hotels and holiday resorts, and livestock. The residential, industrial, and commercial use of water is 80%, 12% and 8%, respectively. Furthermore, the water losses in the conveyance system are estimated as 30%. Of these

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Table 3 Sector wise annual water withdrawals (m3) Agricultural use

Domestic use

Irrigation

Losses

Subtotal

Live stock

LMR C. Lefkosa Degirmenlik Ercan Guzelyurt Lefke Total

82,022 575,349 550,961 37,812,296 3,170,069 42,190,697

70,215 513,982 522,686 21,863,489 2,490,606 25,460,978

152,237 1,089,331 1,073,647 59,675,785 5,660,675 67,651,675

75,387 165,500 192,050 248,173 30,746 711,856

MMR Magosa A Magosa B Akdogan Y.Erenkoy Mehmetcik Y. Iskele Gonendere Gecitkale Total

1,824,077 348,666 1,335,133 1,228,282 686,154 485,257 212,983 373,223 6,493,774

1,673,518 344,259 1,103,063 1,078,670 673,919 463,085 212,984 360,357 5,909,854

3,497,595 692,924 2,438,196 2,306,952 1,360,073 948,342 425,967 733,579 12,403,628

GMR Girne East Girne West Bogaz Camlibel Total

669,566 2,826,507 374,485 926,917 4,797,475

642,904 2,729,797 369,072 834,605 4,576,377

North Cyprus

53,481,946

35,947,209

Total

Hotels

Universities

Residents

Losses

Subtotal

18,834 0 0 2,774 5,256 26,864

226,555 0 0 0 40,184 266,738

4,513,408 1,732,564 143,354 6,930,926 682,185 14,002,437

1,450,255 569,419 100,621 2,154,562 227,511 4,502,368

6,284,438 2,467,483 436,025 9,336,434 985,882 19,510,262

6,436,675 3,556,814 1,509,672 69,012,219 6,646,557 87,161,937

118,877 70,089 177,768 187,094 92,392 123,857 72,330 136,433 978,841

125,414 0 0 4,672 0 39,420 0 0 169,506

359,211 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 359,211

2,705,380 256,869 659,920 834,390 453,330 844,793 487,275 131,856 6,373,813

992,664 98,087 251,306 307,847 163,717 302,421 167,882 80,487 2,364,411

4,301,546 425,045 1,088,994 1,334,002 709,439 1,310,491 727,487 348,776 10,245,781

7,799,141 1,117,969 3,527,190 3,640,954 2,069,512 2,258,833 1,153,454 1,082,355 22,649,409

1,312,470 5,556,304 743,557 1,761,521 9,373,852

62,118 10,001 139,131 131,732 342,981

315,506 248,127 0 0 563,633

47,897 0 0 0 47,897

1,966,620 1,017,620 1,032,494 258,694 4,275,428

717,642 382,724 351,487 117,128 1,568,982

3,109,783 1,658,472 1,523,112 507,554 6,798,920

4,422,253 7,214,776 2,266,669 2,269,075 16,172,772

89,429,155

2,033,678

760,003

673,846

24,651,678

8,435,761

36,554,963

125,984,118

Table 4 Water resources based on annual water extractions (m3) Available resources Springs

Sanitary

Dams

Transport

Desalinization

Ground water

LMR C. Lefkosa Degirmenlik Ercan Guzelyurt Lefke Total

0 19,751 0 0 0 19,751

3,445,840 0 0 0 0 3,445,840

152,237 318,009 0 0 1,490,806 1,961,052

0 0 0 1,661,901 0 1,661,901

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 3,219,054 1,509,672 73,634,756 5,155,751 83,519,233

MMR Magosa A Magosa B Akdogan Y.Erenkoy Mehmetcik Y. Iskele Gonendere Gecitkale Total

0 0 0 0 4,179 40,898 12,665 25,266 83,008

36,870 0 0 0 0 5,422 0 0 42,292

0 0 0 0 0 97,737 425,967 0 523,704

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

7,762,272 1,117,969 3,527,190 3,640,954 2,065,333 2,114,776 714,822 1,057,089 22,000,405

GMR Girne East Girne West Bogaz Camlibel Total

11,654 111,527 1,962 137,390 262,533

41,026 7,321 0 0 48,347

474,620 0 43,174 80,253 598,047

0 0 0 0 0

109,500 0 0 0 109,500

3,785,453 7,095,928 2,221,533 2,051,432 15,154,346

North Cyprus

365,292

3,536,478

3,082,803

1,661,901

109,500

120,673,984

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3,809,759 231,293 0 0 0 24,866 3,642,603 6,963,299 10,002,299 11,535,564 10,128,581 7,143,682 53,481,946

6,323,059 172,723 449,258 167,152 0 172,723 0 172,723 0 156,008 49,732 172,723 5,831,461 167,152 11,626,481 172,723 16,981,354 167,152 19,358,077 172,723 16,911,570 172,723 11,898,163 167,152 89,429,155 2,033,678

64,548 75,999 62,466 73,548 64,548 75,999 64,548 75,999 58,302 22,876 64,548 69,688 62,466 67,442 64,548 69,688 62,466 67,442 64,548 25,327 64,548 25,327 62,466 24,510 760,003 673,846

2,101,809 3,139,604 9,462,663 44,174 275,751 538,446 69,124 2,034,009 3,038,327 3,487,585 36,963 376,392 57,867 130,974 2,101,809 3,139,604 3,139,604 30,958 387,454 0 51,853 2,101,809 3,139,604 3,139,604 26,759 387,454 0 84,530 1,881,936 2,754,858 2,754,858 16,824 349,958 0 54,220 2,095,498 3,123,196 3,172,928 16,343 387,996 10,962 172,430 2,027,902 3,022,449 8,853,910 24,393 302,943 444,935 179,470 2,095,498 3,123,196 14,749,677 44,142 275,835 1,023,520 273,540 2,027,902 3,022,449 20,003,803 34,521 194,925 650,534 167,780 2,083,572 3,050,021 22,408,098 35,914 201,423 175,189 169,080 2,083,572 3,050,021 19,961,591 30,264 201,423 131,560 122,810 2,016,360 2,951,633 14,849,796 24,037 194,925 49,790 186,090 24,651,676 36,554,963 125,984,118 365,292 3,536,478 3,082,803 1,661,901

9,300 9,000 9,300 9,300 8,400 9,300 9,000 9,300 9,000 9,300 9,300 9,000 109,500

8,793,494 3,246,379 3,042,362 3,013,884 2,670,780 2,958,220 8,189,162 13,390,966 19,132,038 22,008,354 19,657,396 14,570,949 120,673,984

30% losses, between 30% and 60% of water leaks out the decrepit pipelines.

October November December January February March April May June July August September Total

Springs Sanitary Live stock Hotels Net irrigation Total

Universities Residents Domestic use Agricultural use Month

Table 5 Monthly sector-wise water extractions and water resources in North Cyprus (m3)

Total

Total use

Available resources

Dams

Transportation Desalin ization Ground extraction

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3.2. Irrigation water supply The current crop patterns were grouped into 21 groups of crops, exhibiting similar characteristics with respect to water consumption [4]. Normally, in NC irrigation water is supplied by irrigation dams, aquifers located within the same region as the consumers, as well as small seasonal springs. The majority of the irrigated crops are located in Guzelyurt sub-region of LMR. Nearly 515,053 ares of land are used for citrus cultivation. Old flood irrigation techniques were commonly applied until recently when water shortage forced for installation of water-saving irrigation techniques. The government supported these changes by subsidizing the investment costs. Still, long-term conveyance losses due to inefficient irrigation were estimated to be above 40% and are blamed to be one of the main reasons for the depletion of aquifers.

4. Concluding remarks NC, a semi-arid country receives variable amount of precipitation among different regions. Therefore, the construction of new dams and underground storage facilities is required for water accumulation purposes and delaying the passage of surface water to the sea. In this way, 20 MCM of water can be stored and supplied to the regions suffering water shortage. In addition, harvesting rainwater at home should be investigated and could be utilized for irrigation of home gardens in order to partially substitute water extractions from the aquifers. This may be especially effective in the Guzelyurt region where home garden irrigation is extensively used. In addition, a rainwater sewage system for each city should be designed and constructed to reclaim this valuable water source. Uncontrolled irrigation, excessive conveyance losses, high losses in the agricultural sector due to inefficient irrigation methods, over-consumption of the municipal water causes the extraction of tremendous amounts of water from the limited aquifer resources in all the regions. The water deficit faced by the different administrative regions of NC ranges between 3.6 and 36.6 MCM/year. Water extracted from the aquifers beyond the safe yield, causes the intrusion of sea water into coastal aquifers. In the Guzelyurt region an extremely high concentration of salts (up to 5000 ppm) has been detected 1 km inland. With the current volume of water extraction, the coastal fresh-water aquifers will experience complete salinization and the inland aquifers will be depleted within 10 years.

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Fig. 2. Water balance scheme of NC

The establishment of desalination plants may provide an additional source of water in order to offset the increasing water deficit. Water transportation from Turkey to Kumkoy (NC) a distance of nearly 80 km, by ‘‘medusa’’ has been attempted. However, in spite of relatively low transportation costs, the amount delivered was insufficient. Furthermore, transporting water by tankers was studied and the realization of this approach would require the development of additional infrastructure in NC resulting in a substantial increase of the unit cost. Alternatively, feasibility studies for transporting water from Turkey to NC by suspended undersea pipelines aiming to bring 75 MCM of water per year reveal that this method of water transportation is not as economical compared with the other alternatives. Effluent reuse of black or gray-water in NC is not widely accepted by the public due to traditional beliefs. Therefore, 3.5 MCM of water treated at the central plants located in the regions of LMR and GMR is diverted to the channels to flow into the sea without being utilized. The reclaim of wastewater is essential due to the island’s water scarcity and its high risk of aquifer salinization. For example, recent research in South Cyprus revealed that home-base utilization of recycled water already contributed 33% to the domestic supply.

An economic analysis of the present crop patterns in the country should be conducted. Suitable crops must be introduced that provide products in demand while consuming sustainable amounts of water. Alternatively, the reclamation of the lands considering the water quality, soil types appropriate to the best crop patterns, revenue, and production yield also must be investigated.

Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to Dr. U. Kersting from FAST at LAU for his extremely valuable suggestions and preliminary review of this paper.

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