Water Family Meeting and Symposium on Water Equity in South-East Europe and the Mediterranean 28-29 March 2019 Palazzo Zorzi, Venice (Italy) - Konstantinos Voudouris, Vice President, UNESCO Category II Centre on Integrated and Multidisciplinary Water Resources Management, Thessaloniki, Greece

1. ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY of THESSALONIKI
Water resources situation in Greece
Venice, 2019
Konstantinos Voudouris
Professor of Hydrogeology,
Vice President, UNESCO Category II Centre on Integrated and Multidisciplinary
Water Resources Management, Thessaloniki, Greece

2. Water use in Greece
Domestic
11%
Agriculture
86%
Industrial
2%
Energy
1%
Domestic Agriculture Industrial Energy
Water resources are characterized by high-requirements for
agricultural and tourism during the dry period, when water
availability is low.
The major water
use is in irrigation,
representing
86% of the
total consumption

3. Groundwater is an
important source of
fresh water in Greece,
supplying water for
domestic (>60%) and
irrigation use (≈30%).
Water needs are
covered via thousands
of boreholes (≈ 300,000)
Spring
Water resources

5. The mis-management of groundwater resources
causes negative effects including:
•depletion of the aquifer storage,
•groundwater level decline,
•seawater intrusion in coastal areas,
•land subsidence,
•quality deterioration and
•environmental problems in other water bodies
(wetlands, surface water).
Human activities impact on groundwater

6. Hydrograph of groundwater level fluctuations (m b.g.s.) in Thessaly
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
11/12/72
11/12/74
11/12/76
11/12/78
11/12/80
11/12/82
11/12/84
11/12/86
11/12/88
11/12/90
11/12/92
11/12/94
11/12/96
11/12/98
11/12/00
11/12/02
11/12/04
groundwaterlevelinmb.g.s.

7. Groundwater over-exploitation and seawater
intrusion in Greece
It is a major problem in coastal
areas!!!

8. Areas affected by nitrate pollution, due to agricultural activities (>50 mg/L)

9. www.inweb.gr
Transboundary basins
Sub-Danubian Transboundary
River & Lake Basins in the Balkans
Source: www.inweb.gr

10. Transboundary aquifer systems
Shared Aquifers in South East Europe
Source: www.inweb.gr

11. The management of transboundary aquifers is
expected to play an important role in water security in the
future.
Globally, about 2 billion people depend on groundwater,
which includes over 300 transboundary aquifer systems.
The management of transboundary aquifers require high
levels of international cooperation and coordination!!!
Transboundary river basins and aquifers

12. Vulnerability map
21/10/2015 INBO 2015, Thessaloniki

13. Vulnerability map to the seawater intrusion
Vulnerability maps could be used from local authorities and
decision makers for groundwater resources management and
protection zoning.

14. Weaknesses for sustainable management of water
• Lack of data from systematic monitoring
• Lack of reliable groundwater balance in river basins and
safe yield of aquifers
• Lack of cooperation among universities, ministries,
organizations, local authorities, water policy makers,
stakeholders…..
• Lack of conjunctive use of surface and groundwater
resources, which is the optimal method for sustainable
water management.
• Managerial and administrative problems of groundwater
exploitation
• Lack of economic incentives for efficient water use
• Lack of dissemination of information
• Updated plans management of river basins,
• and others…
Actions and initiatives should be taken by the Centre and Greek
Government in order to solve these problems!!!

16. ADD TEXT
(Click me)
Improved water efficiency through application of 5R
principles: reduce, reuse, recover, recycle, replenish

18. 1
10
100
1000
10000
Austria
France
Poland
Belgium
Netherlands
Germany
Greece
Italy
Spain
Malta
Israel
Cyprus
Mm³/a
0
25
50
75
100
%
treatedwastewater
reused wastewater
share of treated wastewater reused
source: Eurostat; National Statistics
WASTEWATER RECLAMATION &
REUSE IN EUROPE

19. 2000
2025
www.aquarec.org
GROWTH FORECAST IN WATER REUSE

20. Effective water management needs
more and better data
‘You cannot manage, what you do not measure’
• Reliable (good quality), consistent and
disaggregated
• Increase transparency and accountability
• Available and accessible (sharing)

21. Thank you for your attention!