Re-emergence of Greece’s sunken village shows extent of rainfall crisis

 

‘Nightmarish situation’: Buildings from the flooded village of Kallio have begun to re-emerge from the Mornos reservoir. Photograph: Yannis Kolesidis/EPA

 

 Heatwaves and lack of rainfall have led to receding water levels in the Mornos reservoir, which submerged Kallio in the 1970s

 

No place is more indicative of plummeting rainfall levels in Greece than the Mornos reservoir. And no settlement is more indicative of how serious this year’s drought has been than Kallio, a village submerged by the artificial lake in the late 1970s.

Nearly five decades after Kallio was deliberately flooded as part of the construction of a dam to ensure water supply for Athens, people living nearby have watched in disbelief as reserves have receded to the point that the village has reappeared.

“It’s a nightmarish situation,” said Apostolos Gerodimos, the head of the 60-strong community forced to move upland when the dam was built about 125 miles west of Athens.

The outlines of stone buildings, including one that housed the village’s school, have become visible as the water level has dropped. Photograph: Alexandros Remoundos/EPA

 

“The more water levels fall, the more buildings that were submerged back then are re-emerging. If it doesn’t rain this winter the problem is going to get much worse.”

An estimated 80 buildings, including Kallio’s Evangelistra church and primary school, were “sacrificed” when the reservoir was created. People who were compensated at the time moved to Athens and other urban centres or uphill where they formed a new community.

Although the contours of the church have not yet been revealed, the outlines of the stone building that once housed the school can now be seen because of falling water levels.

Kostas Koutsoumbas, the village’s vice-mayor, thinks water levels “have fallen 40 metres” this year and are still heading south. “We haven’t seen anything like it since 1993,” he said. “It’ll be more acute than even then if things don’t improve.”

An estimated 80 buildings were ‘sacrificed’ when the reservoir was created in the late 1970s. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images

 

On the frontline of the climate emergency, Greece has been hammered by a succession of heatwaves exacerbated by years of erratic rain. The mercury hit record levels in June, July and August.

As a result, across the Mediterranean country water shortages have become a major concern. Popular islands, many of which rely on wells and desalination plants, are especially affected at a time when unprecedented tourist arrivals are placing ever-greater pressure on climate-stressed resources.

In early July, before blistering temperatures became a daily occurrence, the water utility company, Eydap, estimated that water levels were down 30% in the Mornos reservoir compared with the same period last year.

With prolonged drought focusing minds, Eydap officials have said they are drawing up plans for better water management, with investments lined up to the tune of €750m (£631m).

A dried out area of the Mornos reservoir. The water utility company Eydap estimated water levels were down 30% compared with last year. Photograph: Yannis Kolesidis/EPA

 
 

There are plans to tap Lake Yliki, about 52 miles (85km) north-west of Athens, in addition to the artificial lake fed by the Mornos and Evinos rivers.

Eydap has increasingly urged people in the Attica region surrounding Athens – the country’s biggest concentration of people, with 3.7 million inhabitants – not to waste water.

The Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has said it is clear the country will also need to build more dams. “We don’t have the luxury to waste water,” he said this summer.

“At a time when we know with certainty we will have less water, we must protect water resources more methodically than we have done so far.”