“In Thessaly, Italy, China and America, something has been ‘running’ with the water in recent years, apart from the water itself in its natural channels,” says the director of the Laboratory of Hydrology and Analysis of Water Systems
“The most direct and obvious result of the depletion of water resources in the area is the current image of Pinios. Its average annual flow systematically falls short of the minimum permitted ecological limit, which practically defines the sustainability of the river. In addition, the river dries up in certain parts of its course during the summers». These, among other things, he emphasizes in the Athenian – Macedonian News Agency, o Nikitas Mylopoulosprofessor – director of the Laboratory of Hydrology and Analysis of Water Systems, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly.
The causes of the ecological disaster, according to him, are well-known and told a thousand times: the absence of organized irrigation networks, the antiquated irrigation methods and – of course – the very structure of the crops, with the main characteristic being the prevalence of water-bearing and chemically preserved species. The parallel human effects (sandblasting, reclamation, residential expansions, interventions in the natural bed, etc.) complement but also exacerbate the problem. From a qualitative point of view, adds Mr. Mylopoulos, the Pinios is considered today one of the most burdened rivers in the country, as well as in Europe. And he explains:It receives municipal waste water from small and large settlements (with landfills next to or in the bed), industrial waste (including the chemical waste of some chemical industries), livestock waste and thousands of tons of agricultural drugs and fertilizers. The river does not return, but and it doesn’t go forward!».
Referring to the general picture that prevails in the rivers of the planet, the professor – director of the Laboratory of Hydrology and Analysis of Water Systems points out: “Something has been “running” with the water in recent years. Water scarcity, droughts, floods, drought, pollution, commercialization, privatization. From any point of view, the water crisis is one of the most important environmental issues, if not the most important, with incalculable effects and consequences for societies and the planet. Half of the world’s wetlands have been destroyed and a significant decrease in runoff in major rivers is recorded in all studies worldwide. From the Amazon, Colorado and Niger, to the Yellow River and the Ganges, levels and supplies are lower everywhere, while in the meteorologically dry Mediterranean the effects are even more pronounced. In neighboring Italy this summer of prolonged drought, rivers are running dangerously dry with already incalculable damage to agricultural production and the government is one step away from declaring the country a state of emergency».
But how did the water crisis come about?
According to Mr. Mylopoulos, one side of the coin says that the problem of the water crisis was not created by natural phenomena such as lack of rain or drought. It was created because for a number of years the water consumed in the individual watersheds far exceeds their carrying capacity, with the result that, in addition to the renewable ones, a significant part of the permanent water reserves is also consumed. It is therefore, according to him, a problem of overconsumption, an anthropogenic problem, a problem that is extremely political in its structure, since it primarily concerns the development model that systematically underestimates environmental limits, depleting the reserves of natural and energy resources. The other side of the same coin, he adds, is related to the climate crisis, which, as a result of the same development model, further intensifies the problem and creates a perpetual vicious cycle that, spiraling over time, drains water resources. Especially for rivers, the deregulation of the global climate mechanism brings about an increase in extreme events, thus a significant change in the rate of water runoff on an annual basis. Thus, the large volumes of water flow more and more in floods (the deadly floods in Germany and also the “Ianos” in Karditsa testify to this), with correspondingly long periods of no rain, gradually turning the rivers from continuous flow to seasonal. According to earlier WWF research, humanity would need three planets in ecosystems and natural resources if it followed Greece’s current development model. In water consumption, the professor emphasizes, due to anarchic and reckless irrigation, we have the second largest water footprint after the US and twice the world average. Especially in Thessaly, where irrigation water use has exceeded 25% of the total water consumed throughout the country, the threat of desertification is alive and well.
To conclude by emphasizing Mr. Mylopoulos: “In Thessaly, Italy, China and America something has been “running” with the water in recent years, apart from the water itself in its natural ways. The water shortage, like the climate crisis, are the results of a development ideology that went morally, politically and ideologically bankrupt. The sooner we understand it, the sooner we get it otherwise, the more we can save…».
RES-EMP
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