Major Turkish Cities Face Severe Water Shortages

An aerial picture taken by a drone shows Guzelce aqueduct on the part of the Alibeykoy dam in Istanbul, Turkey, 10 December 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

The levels are at their lowest in 10 years, with reservoirs in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Bursa - Turkey's four biggest cities - only 24 per cent, 23 per cent, 36 per cent and 24 per cent full respectively.

Istanbul, home to an estimated 16 million people, is most critical; the city consumes on average nearly one percentage point per day, meaning it could run out of water in a month if there is no rain or snow.

"Rainfall is 50 per cent down on other years," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late on Monday, urging people to use water sparingly. "I would like to underscore the danger of water scarcity," he said.

This time last year, Istanbul's dams were almost 45 per cent full, and nearly 57 per cent in November 2018. In Izmir, dams were 65 per cent full a year ago.

"I can't sleep at night," Izmir mayor Tunc Soyer tweeted on November 28. "This is a very dark picture. It is calamitous."

In Bursa, local authorities said last week the city had a maximum of three months' worth of water left.

Dursun Yildiz, a former director at the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works, told the Turkish daily Sozcu that water levels may not rise again before February at the earliest.

"Istanbul has a maximum one month of water left," he said. "There is no short-term solution to this crisis."

The opposition-run Istanbul Municipality called on the government to complete a water pipeline project that is supposed to bring water to Istanbul from the Melen River in the nearby city of Sakarya.