Izmir's water crisis is growing! Citizens react to İZSU: They've just come to their senses.

Last year, Izmir experienced its driest winter in recent years. With insufficient rainfall, the dams that supply Izmir's drinking water and the levels of its groundwater resources have become alarming.

Scientists warned Izmir Metropolitan Municipality months ago, saying "This summer will be difficult" and warning it to take precautions, but the water and sewerage administration IZSU did not take any steps in the meantime regarding the discovery of new water resources.

The water level in Tahtalı Dam has dropped to 6 percent. (DHA)

NO WATER LEFT IN DAMS According to Sabah newspaper, the Tahtalı Dam, which meets 37 percent of the city's drinking water needs, has hit rock bottom. The dam's occupancy rate has fallen to around 6 percent. When the Kutlu Aktaş Dam's occupancy rate dropped below 5 percent, water outages began in Çeşme , Izmir's world-famous tourist district.

REGULAR CITYWIDE WATER OUTAGES Following this, İZSU announced that it had implemented a number of water conservation measures at the beginning of August. Having divided the city into five regions, İZSU implemented regular water outages in these areas between 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM during the first week of August.

Regular water outages have led to an increase in can sales in Izmir. (A News archive)

While the people of İzmir were pondering how to combat drought in the face of rising temperatures, news from the İZSU General Directorate made us wonder, "Where were you thinking before?" The İzmir Water and Sewerage Administration (İZSU) announced that it had launched a tender for a comprehensive hydrogeological survey service to identify and evaluate underground water resources in İzmir and surrounding residential areas.

I WARNED, BUT NO ONE LISTENED İZBB ’s failure to heed the warnings and take precautions to date has also angered the scientific community. Climate scientist Prof. Dr. Doğan Yaşar, a member of the Environment, Biodiversity, and Climate Change Working Group, reacted to the events. Yaşar, who stated that he wrote a letter to then-İZBB President Tunç Soyer in 2020 and warned about the drought threat facing İzmir, said, “I also wrote the same letter to İZBB President Cemil Tugay. But no one listened.” Recalling that he made important statements about the drought threat facing İzmir on a national television channel in 2022, Yaşar said, “We’ve been talking nonsense, saying, ‘Be careful, a drought is coming.’ While local governments in many countries around the world are taking very serious measures against the drought threat they face, we have merely stood by and watched. Under normal circumstances, water cuts should have started last year. The reserve water in the dams has also run out. Unfortunately, it was too late.”