Amid worsening drought conditions, Cyprus’s Audit Office urged immediate reforms in water resource management. The report warned that climate change and poor oversight threaten national water security. Officials stressed that the Water Development Department (WDD), which supervises the nation’s reserves, must act decisively to protect supplies and improve accountability.
System Failures and Unchecked Consumption
Auditors discovered major flaws in water monitoring, billing, and meter verification. Two major supply points in Nicosia, representing 64 percent of the district’s usage, went unchecked for long periods. The WDD lacked access to Limassol’s water meters and Larnaca’s telemetry systems, raising doubts about billing accuracy. Officials ignored inconsistencies in readings, and staff often left control forms incomplete. The Water Billing System also suffered from weak data security and limited access control.
Financial Losses and Delayed Enforcement
The WDD recovered €147.7 million in payments, but €69.2 million came from long-standing municipal debts. Despite cancelling some older debts to encourage compliance, new arrears kept rising. Authorities also failed to bill Turkish Cypriot consumers for €58.1 million worth of water, following a political directive. The office found widespread delays in pursuing legal action against debtors and noted that some cases saw no enforcement at all. Private companies continued to over-pump groundwater without facing penalties, endangering local supplies. Investigators also flagged uncharged business consumption and delays in implementing water adequacy projects in Polis Chrysochous and Tilleria, even after studies finished in 2022.
Call for Reform and Strategic Planning
The Audit Office demanded tighter supervision, stronger management, and faster decision-making across the water sector. It urged the WDD to create a long-term strategy instead of relying on reactive fixes. Cyprus, the report concluded, must modernize its approach and enforce stricter control measures to secure a sustainable future for its water resources.
