Turkey’s major cities to ‘face no immediate water shortage’

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli has said that Turkey's biggest cities, the capital Ankara, Istanbul, and the Aegean province of Izmir, will face no water shortage problems for a few months as they have enough water stored to meet the needs of the cities.

"As of today, Ankara has enough water for four and a half months and Istanbul for seven and a half months while [the Aegean province of] İzmir's reservoirs are 76 percent full," Pakdemirli told the state-run Anadolu Agency on March 31.

"For Ankara, we also have the Gerede tunnel, which will carry 360 million cubic meters of water to the city with an annual need of 400 million cubic meters," he added.

According to the minister, the capacity rate in dams of Ankara is now 12 percent, while the rate in Istanbul is 72 percent as of March 31, some 7 percent more than the same day of the last year.

"Istanbul and İzmir are in better shape than last year, with Ankara following them. Despite the late snowfall, I don't think Ankara will have any problem," Pakdemirli said.

Noting that his ministry is working with the local authorities of the metropolises, he said, "When a city comes under a water shortage, its mayor comes to us. In critical times, the mayor of Istanbul visited us, and we discussed the situation and made calculations to solve the problem."

The minister also remarked on the latest capacity rates in dams after the long precipitation that occurred in February and March.

According to the minister, the capacity rate in dam reservoirs across the country for drinkable water was 58 percent on March 31, 2020 and this year, on the same day, it is 52 percent.

Stating that the capacity rate of the irrigation dams...