Rainfall decreased, dam occupancy rate decreased

The recent drought and rainfall shortages due to climate change have also impacted water resources. With temperature records breaking this summer, dam occupancy rates across Turkey have plummeted. Experts are calling for more efficient water use, and local governments have begun implementing measures to address this.

The occupancy rate of dams supplying water to the megacity of Istanbul, which was 45.79 percent on September 1 last year, was measured at 39.98 percent in the same period this year. In the capital Ankara, the water level in dams was 606,945,000 cubic meters on August 31 last year, but this time it fell to 291,323,000 cubic meters. The occupancy rate, which was 38.28 percent last year, fell to 18.38 percent this year.

Water levels in Izmir's dams have also fallen.

In İzmir, the water level in dams is falling daily due to drought and lack of rainfall. As part of measures taken to ensure the careful use of drinking water reserves in the dams until the rainy season and to prevent large-scale water outages, planned water outages have been implemented across the city starting August 6. According to data from the İzmir Water and Sewerage Administration General Directorate (İZSU), the water level in Tahtalı Dam, which supplies a large portion of İzmir's drinking water needs with an average daily consumption of 700,000 cubic meters, has dropped to 5.67 percent. The occupancy rate of the Alaçatı Kutlu Aktaş Dam is measured at 0.64 percent, the Ürkmez Dam at 6.28 percent, the Balçova Dam at 16.14 percent, and the Güzelhisar Dam at 53.2 percent. Gördes Dam has no water left this year.

Sinkholes have begun to appear in the Küçük Menderes Basin.

Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Environment, Biodiversity and Climate Change Working Group Member Prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar said, "In İzmir, our dams were 80 percent full from 2010 to 2022. However, mistakes were made. Water was drawn from the wells when the dams were full. This is the reason why İzmir uses the most expensive water. Because drawing from the wells consumes a lot of energy. Water should have been drawn from the dam when it was full. The aquifers should have been rested. We drew 60 percent of the water from the wells each time. Unfortunately, our wells have leaked deep. 220 thousand cubic meters of water are being drawn from beneath Manisa every day, and we dried up Gölmarmara. Sinkholes started to appear in Manisa due to incorrect water use. We knew the drought was coming, and we said that plans B and C should be implemented for water. In America, England, Germany, and Spain, watering lawns, filling pools, and watering plants that require a lot of water were banned. Everyone took precautions, but we didn't. When the water ran out, we thought of taking precautions. For a few years, we planted fruits that require a lot of water, such as apples and pears. "Let's not eat it, let's let the aquifers recover. Let's let the lakes start holding water again. Because of the wrong cropping policies in agriculture, the lake region has become a desert region. The Konya Plain has become a sinkhole plain. Now, sinkholes have started in the Küçük Menderes Basin, and all of Türkiye is being drained," he said.

TOURISM DISTRICT BODRUM IS ALSO AFFECTED BY DROUGHT

The occupancy rates of the Geyik and Mumcular dams, which supply water to the Bodrum district of Muğla, have dropped. Drawing attention to the fact that water will be needed if rainfall does not come in the autumn in Bodrum, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceyhun Özçelik, Head of the Water Resources Department of the Civil Engineering Department of MSKU Faculty of Engineering, said, “The lack of rainfall across the country has now become felt in our coastal areas. In the last 9 months, there has been an average drought of around 26 percent in our country. This is affecting our reservoirs. Our cities with fragile urban infrastructure are being affected even more. Bodrum is one of these spots. The water level in the Geyik and Mumcular dams, which are two drinking water sources in Bodrum, has decreased.” Drawing attention to the fact that the public gets water by tanker, Assoc. Özçelik said, "If the rains don't arrive in the fall, I can say we could face a serious drying out of our dams. In previous years, water from Milas was also diverted to Bodrum. It's predictable that the water shortage could be quenched by the springs, but the real problem in Bodrum stems from the inability to deliver water to the city, rather than the amount of water in the springs. We're experiencing thousands of bursts in the transmission lines. The city can go without water for days due to the repair and re-commissioning of a burst, and the inability to deliver water to the upper reaches due to low pressure in the system."

THE FULL RATE OF DAMS IN KONYA, THE GRAIN BANK, IS AT CRITICAL LEVEL

Water levels in the dams in the Konya Plain, known as Türkiye's granary, have reached a critical point. The amount of water in Altınapa Dam, one of the dams that provides Konya with drinking water, has dropped to 3 million cubic meters. Prof. Dr. Fetullah Arık of Konya Technical University noted that the summer was one of the driest in the last 30-35 years, saying, "The Afşar Dam, Bağbaşı Dam, and Bozkır Dam also failed to deliver the desired water volume due to drought. The amount of water in Bağbaşı Dam has dropped significantly."

"WE HAVE LOST THE NATURAL HABITS OF BIRDS"

Prof. Dr. Arık stated that natural life is also being harmed by the drying up of lakes, saying, "We have lost the natural habitats of birds in the drylands. We have lakes that have dried up significantly. We can mention Akşehir, Çavuşçu, and Meke Lakes. But we are also experiencing very serious problems with our dams."

DAMS IN ADANA AND HATAY ALSO SHOOK UP ALARM

In Adana, where temperatures are above seasonal norms, active occupancy rates in five of the seven dams that meet drinking water and agricultural irrigation needs have decreased significantly, while two have increased slightly. In Hatay, the occupancy rate at the Karaçay Dam, which supplies drinking water to the Antakya, Defne, and Samandağ districts, has fallen to 13 percent.

ISLANDS FORMED IN THE GÖLKÖY DAM IN BOLU

Gölköy Dam Lake, which supplies Bolu's drinking and utility water needs, had reached 100 percent capacity with the melting of snow in the spring. Due to warm weather, decreased precipitation, and the use of water for agricultural irrigation, the dam's capacity has dropped to around 25 percent. Areas where water has receded have become visible, creating small islands.

Van also suffered from drought

Van has also been affected by the drought. Water levels in the Zernek, Sarımehmet, Koçköprü, and Morgedik dams, which, like Lake Van, supply water to the city, have dropped. Nihat Yılmaz, an aquaculture engineer at the dam's trout production facility, noted that trout are produced eight months a year at Zernek Dam Lake, where cage fishing is practiced. He stated, "If this continues, we could face the same problem we faced in 2021-2022. During that period, fish and other living creatures died, and oxygen levels dropped to their peaks."

The dam was built, the village came to light

The Pusat Özen Dam, which also supplies Sivas's city water supply and saw its water level drop significantly last year, hasn't reached its expected levels despite heavy snowfall and spring rains this year. With the water receding, the old Pusat village, which had been submerged under the dam, resurfaced last year. Due to the drying up of the areas where water was drawn, the ruins of the old village have become easily accessible. Dr. Fatih Kartal, a faculty member at Sivas Cumhuriyet University (SCU), noted the significant impact of agricultural irrigation on dams, saying, "Because Sivas has a semi-arid and arid topography, very serious agricultural policies must be implemented here. Significant revisions must be made to agricultural areas."

THE OCCUPANCY RATE OF DAMS IN 'WATER CITY' BURSA IS 14.29

In Bursa, the city of water, described by Evliya Çelebi in his travelogue as "The people of Bursa are flushed with the beauty of its water and air. In short, Bursa is all about water," the average occupancy rate of dams has fallen to 14.29 percent. Water levels have dropped in the Doğancı Dam and Nilüfer Dam, which meet the drinking water needs of the city, which has a population of 3,271,000.

THERE IS A DROUGHT IN THRACE TOO

Drought has also affected Thrace. The water level in the Naip Dam, which supplies drinking water to the Süleymanpaşa district of Tekirdağ, has fallen below 1 percent. The Tekirdağ Water and Sewerage Administration (TESKİ) has called on citizens to conserve water. The Yazır Reservoir, also used for agricultural purposes in the city, has also nearly dried up due to the drought.

DHA

Reporter: News Center