Water Resources Allocation:Policy & Socioeconomic Issues in Cyprus

Abstract

This book does not only aim to present and analyze the Cyprus experience in water resources management, using both local and world experts in the field. It also opts to communicate this experience to other countries that can inform, develop and improve their water resources policies by understanding the strong and weak elements of the Cyprus experience. The dilemma facing Cyprus—that of limited water supplies (both in terms of quantity and quality) in the face of steadily increasing water demand, coupled with a fragmented institutional structure of the water sector—is characteristic of most arid and semi-arid countries all over the world. Another common characteristic of Cyprus is that the water management administrative boundaries there do not coincide with the hydrological ones, while the ongoing political problem of the island creates significant administration problems. Finally, Cyprus’s way towards implementing the EU WFD can be instructive for newly-accessing EU countries