Integrated water and wastewater management strategy in North Cyprus-basis for an action plan

This paper explored and assessed the essential elements of an integrated water and wastewater management strategy that could be easily translated into an action plan for North Cyprus. The evaluation was carried out in light of all numerical indicators related to water demand and wastewater generation. First, it showed the alarming state of the country, due to the inadequacy of surface water resources and deterioration of aquifers caused by pollution and seawater intrusion. The transport of 75 million m³/year of high-quality water from Turkey (TC water) has been a milestone for solv-ing the chronic water problem. Currently, the water demands of municipal, tourism and education sectors were assessed to 40.3, 5.5, and 4.8 million m³/year, respectively. Together with agriculture and livestock farming, the overall water demand amounted to 84 million m³/year. The new water potential created with the TC water amounted to 109 million m³/year, way over the actual demand, which would enable us to boost the irrigated agricultural activities shortly. Furthermore, the quality of the TC water is quite suitable for reuse of the treated wastewater, which would create a new water resource. The new possibilities can only be put into action, within the context of a compatible integrated water and wastewater management strategy. This paper also defined the highlights of this strategy.