A critical review of water resources in Greece: The key role of agricultural adaptation to climate-water effects

Abstract

Τhe management and protection of a country's water resources is a matter of high priority, ensuring the development and socio-economic stability of a country. Unquestionably, Greece is a characteristic example of this, as water distribution is highly spatially and temporally unequally distributed, while irrigation and tourist consumers as well as the pollution load are expected to be increased in the near future. Water resources in Greece are particularly affected by climate extremes, with droughts, floods and soil erosion by water being the utmost consequences. Greece consumes the greatest amount of its available water resources in the agricultural sector. Also, there is much evidence of water shortage and bad/poor chemical status of some water bodies, mainly due to saltwater intrusion in coastal agricultural areas and intensively agricultural activities. Therefore, this review provides a literature update on the quantity and quality aspects of water resources in Greece for each water body, focusing on water relation effects (aridity/drought, floods and soil erosion by water). This paper, based on different sources of information and an extensive database of water related data, collects, evaluates and groups data from a quantity and quality point of view for all the different water bodies of Greece. Specific water districts such as the Aegean islands, the eastern part of Crete, Attica and Thessaly are expected to be the most affected by climate-water impacts with reduced crops yields, a greater risk of droughts and/or floods, a loss of agricultural land, declining water availability, and degraded water resources (surface and groundwater). Based on these findings, the proposed review highlights agricultural adaptation practices for increasing water use efficiency, ensuring the sustainability of water resources in Greece.

Keywords: Climate-water impacts; Quantity/quality of water resources; Water cycle intensification; Water resources management; Water use efficiency.