Future water flows into Kouris dam could be contaminated due to recent fires, officials warn

Authorities are prepping for a potential contamination of the water in Kouris dam by ash and cinders once the rainy season begins, media reports said on Thursday.

Located in Limassol district, Kouris is the largest reservoir in Cyprus. It is fed by the Kouris River along with other smaller watercourses including the Diarizos River which has its water diverted to the dam via an underground pipeline.

The dam lies near areas burned down by the recent fires.

News outlet Stockwatch reports on a meeting held recently and chaired by the Environment Division of the agriculture ministry. There, officials from several departments brainstormed on what actions can be taken to prevent contaminated water from flowing into the dam once the rains restart.

An official said that the Water Development Department (WDD) will be monitoring water flows and, together with the Geological Survey Department, will hammer out a plan for the various works that need to be implemented imminently.

At the same meeting, it was decided that hydrologists of the WDD will carry out studies over the next 20 days regarding where earth mounds must be constructed to gather the ash and cinders from the recent fires.

Kouris dam has a capacity of 115 million cubic metres. According to the latest WDD data, the reservoir holds 17.264 million cubic metres of water, or 15 per cent of capacity.