İstanbul Mayor calls on people to save water as dams' occupancy rate hits 10-year low

Photo: AA

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While İstanbul has no immediate water scarcity threat, the municipality is looking for solutions to improve the city's water supply, Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has said.

Pointing out that many people stay at home due to the pandemic, İmamoğlu called on İstanbulites to use water "in the most economical way" during a visit to the İstanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ) yesterday (December 21).

The İSKİ announced on December 11 that the water levels in the city's dams declined to the lowest level in a decade with 21.78 percent.

"The dams have no water retention problem. There is a drought problem," he said and noted that there were no immediate problems.

However, he added, "The city's water problem is not solved until 2040 as it is said," referring to the previous administration's statement. "First of all, the Melen Dam has not been completed. And now, unfortunately, brutal problems such as Kanal İstanbul are waiting for us. "

"Unfortunately, our country is having a dry season. Actually, we can say that this is nearly the second year of the drought. We had a similar drought last year as well. In this sense, our cities have a serious water problem," said İmamoğlu.

İstanbul's seven dams have the capacity to hold 868,68 million cubic meters of water while the current amount of water is 185,82 million cubic meters, according to the İSKİ. (VK)