1
Society for Risk Analysis Europe – 22nd
Annual Conference,
Trondheim 17-19 June 2013
Perceptions of Socio-Economic Drought as causes of Hydrological Drought
mismanagement
I.DASKALAKISa& K.SAPOUNTZAKI
b
a) Department of Geography, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece; b) Department of Geography, Harokopio
University, Athens, Greece.
Corresponding author: Ioannis Daskalakis, Agiou Ioannou Theologou 41, 15561, Holargos, Greece, tel.
00302109231458, email: [email protected]
Abstract
People use their perceptions of risk in order to make decisions that influence their prospects of survival.
In the case of drought management, the social factor is an important component in planning and implementation
of mitigation measures. Perceptions of social and institutional actors on socio-economic drought aiming to satisfy
particular needs, serve as drivers for interventions in the system of water resources, with disregard of the risks
that these actions entail for the wider society and the hydrological and ecological system. The diversion of
Acheloos River, the water procurement practices in the Dodecanese islands and the construction of the
Aposelemis dam in North-Eastern Crete, represent three cases where certain interest groups take advantage of the
incoherent and un-coordinated decision making system on water policy to pursue rapid mitigation of socio-
economic drought as perceived by them. Such interventions that are not based on reliable water cycle data and
sufficient drought risk communication result in drought risk transference in time and space and transformation of
water into an expensive commodity. These practices tend to amplify the perceived risk of socio-economic drought
and undervalue the importance of hydrological and ecological drought.
Keywords: Drought perception, socio-economic drought risk, hydrological drought risk, water procurement,
Dodecanese, Aposelemis river, Crete
Introduction
Drought is perceived to be a phenomenon that is largely socially constructed (Keenan,
Kranich, 1997). Its appearance depends on the interaction between the natural phenomenon
itself and the way that hydrological systems are operated by humans in order to satisfy water
demand (Mamasis, Koutsogiannis, 2007). As with many similar adverse events, drought
occurrences are hard to forecast and therefore responses are perceptual and intuitive and are
mostly based on past experiences (Keenan, Kranich, 1997).
In many respects, risk understanding is merely subjective and is defined by the way that
individuals consider themselves vulnerable against adverse events and their consequences.
Indeed varying public perceptions of risk, which are forged by intuitive biases, economic
interests and cultural values, may result in risk understanding patterns that partially address
hazardous situations and result in more serious consequences in the end (Kasperson et al,
1988).
The above assumptions prove to be true in the case of social-economic drought
incidents that clearly manifest society’s vulnerability against water shortage. Social and
economic procedures that regulate the supply and demand of water related goods and services
may cause rise of demand which exceeds supply and results in water shortage (Mamasis,
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Koutsogiannis, 2007). Drought incidents as such occur all the more often due to changes in
lifestyle and the fact that the prevailing capitalistic model promotes an individualized consumer
mentality that is inconsistent with the principles of collective resource management. In
response to partial interests and requests, policy making actors usually prefer to address socio-
economic drought by intervening in the system of water resources, i.e. the supply side.
However, lack of an integrated approach to drought to include and balance measures on the
supply side with others on the demand side is likely to lead to ecological drought (affecting
vegetation and agricultural production) and the more serious and sometimes irreversible hazard
of hydrological drought. This type of hazard is the result of reduced precipitation in the surface
run-off and underground draining and is manifested through reduction of soil moisture, river
flow and source capacity, water level of lakes, reservoirs and groundwater resources (Mamasis,
Koutsogiannis, 2007).
In this paper we examine the three cases of Acheloos River, Dodecanese islands and
North-Eastern Crete which are particularly interesting because of the origin of the interventions
in the respective systems of water resources. In all three cases interventions are the result of
prevailing perceptions of certain groups on drought risk rather than of a more integrated
drought management approach. The analysis of the case studies was based on relevant papers,
research projects and, in the latter two case studies, on structured interviews with the major
policy making actors at the local and regional level. Similarities between the cases of
Dodecanese islands and North-eastern Crete allowed the use of interviews as a research
methodology for both. The questions that were addressed to the interviewees revolved around
three axes: a) Water procurement and consumption patterns and impact on the environment and
the hydrological system, b) Water management policy and c) Perceptions regarding water
resource availability and proper management solutions. In both cases of Dodecanese islands
and North-Eastern Crete, we interviewed actors from Public Water Supply and Sewage
Authorities (DEYA) at the local level and from the Directorate of Water Resources of the
Decentralized Administration of the Aegean and the Decentralized Administration of Crete at
the regional level respectively.
Diversion of Acheloos river: Socio-economic Drought Mitigation outbalancing Ecological
Drought
The profile of the project, development aims and impacts on the affected Regions
This case study concerns the project of the diversion of Acheloos river in Greece, which
flows in a north – south direction from the northern mountains of the Pindus range to the Ionian
Sea, to the plains of Thessaly, for irrigation and other purposes. This complex and very
expensive project and the controversy surrounding it has occupied the centre of public attention
in Greece for several decades and has caused bitter disputes between proponents and opponents
and between the communities involved, i.e. the Prefecture of Aetoloakarnania, where most of
the Acheloos river basin is located and the region of Thessaly, of which the farmers expect
substantial benefits from the diversion. Although the initial ambitions, as measured by the total
flow volume to be diverted, were later lowered and adapted to a more modest scenario, which
was described as a “partial diversion”, the project remained huge by the standards of public
works in Greece, labelled by its critics as one of pharaonic proportions or of soviet mentality
(ENSURE project, Del. 3.1, Wassenhoven, Sapountzaki et al. 2010).
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Aetoloakarnania is a relatively undeveloped and poor area of Greece, of which the
agricultural population approaches 50% of the total. It is also an area of great ecological value,
since the Acheloos river delta which is located in the region, is one out of Greece’s 11 wetlands
protected under the Ramsar convention and is also protected as a NATURA area and under the
EU Bird Directive. The future development of Aetoloakarnania requires a careful rural
development and countryside policy and the promotion of alternative forms of tourism, such as
eco-tourism, agro-tourism and cultural tourism. Livestock, fish and biological farming are also
among the priorities. The problem is that water, especially that of Acheloos, is a crucial
parameter.
Agriculture is dominant in the economy of Thessaly, with a share of over 20% of
economic activity. Among the problems of agriculture in the region are the quasi-total
dependence on cotton growing, the absence of products that are likely to be in demand in the
future, such as bio-products or crops with a regional brand, the low percentage of irrigated land,
water deficit, uncontrollable boring of aquifers and negligent use of water. It is remarked in the
2000 – 2006 Regional Operational Programme than in spite of all warnings the cultivation of
cotton and cereals kept growing in the last years of the previous century and that the first
priority is the introduction of cultivation methods which are less wasteful of natural resources,
especially water. To make things worse prices of agricultural produce have collapsed in 2009,
with the price of industrial cultivations, such as cotton, falling by a staggering 38% (ENSURE
project, Del. 3.1, Wassenhoven, Sapountzaki et al. 2010).
The exact nature of the project has changed over the years, first because the volume of
water flow to be diverted was reduced after the initial reactions, i.e. when the so-called “partial
diversion” was adopted, and secondly because the official rhetoric has gradually shifted to
sidestep the accusation that the project was aimed at providing irrigation for water intensive
and wasteful cultivations, without embarking first in a total review of water management in the
plain of Thessaly. The tendency has been to re-label individual dams and reservoirs as serving
energy production objectives, rather than irrigation, thus individual projects described in the
mid-1990s as integral parts of the overall project to divert water to the Thessaly plain were
labeled 10 years later as purely hydroelectric ones. What is more important to stress is that,
regardless of the technical characteristics, the long controversy over the project resulted in a
constant redefinition by the government of the project’s goals in order on one hand to answer
the objections of the Council of State and on the other to pacify and convince the objectors and
the critics that the project was not necessary simply to perpetuate inefficient agricultural
practices. The arguments being put forward were that the project was of course needed for
irrigation (there was no way to deny this), but was equally essential for energy production,
urban water supply and even environmental protection and improvement in Thessaly. It was
argued at the same time that there was no danger of environmental deterioration on the side of
Aetoloakarnania.
Actors and Stakeholders involved, respective perceptions and mutual conflicts
The extent of the geographical area affected by the diversion project, the size of its
population, the complexity, magnitude and cost of the project, the political and social interests
involved, and the social dynamics that grew in the process, particularly in the last 25 years,
explain the number of actors and stakeholders involved and the intricate web of their
interactions:
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Central government: The first group of actors included the central government, its regional
branches and government – controlled organizations, although the views expressed are not
always identical. The central government consistently supported the realization of the project
and denied its harmful environmental impacts.
Local organizations: Local actors comprised municipalities and the then prefectures (1st and
2nd
tier local government respectively), municipal and prefectural development companies,
rural cooperatives, trades unions and producer chambers. Their views depend on their regional /
local perspective. The organizations of Thessaly especially, have lobbied the government
systematically and have supported the project either by exerting pressure to speed up the
process or by intervening in court cases to lend legal support to the government The political
clout of Thessaly exceeds by far that of Aetoloakarnania, hence the organizations of the latter
had to rely on the moral support and the technical and legal resources of nationwide
environmental organizations, especially in court cases.
The Council of State: Appeals to the court were lodged by local authorities of
Aetoloakarnania, citizen movements and, what is most important because of their legal
resources, by national NGOs. In general the rulings of the CoS have been dismissive for the
project on the basis of various arguments such failure to environmentally assess the project
with respect to the entire Acheloos river basin etc. In 2006, the then minister of Environment,
Spatial Planning and Public Works was clearly in difficulty to conceal his anger over the
rulings regarding the Acheloos diversion and spoke of the “incomprehensible stubbornness” of
certain CoS judges (Ministry for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Public Works, 2009).
National environmental NGOs: Non-governmental organizations were the main movers of
court actions to block government decisions. They were WWF Hellas, the Greek Society for
the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage, the Greek Ornithological Society and
the Greek Society for the Protection of Nature. Their position on the substance of the project
was that there would be serious environmental damage in the Acheloos river basin as a result of
it, that environmental deterioration in the plains of Thessaly is the result of chronic natural
resource mismanagement and that its restoration could be achieved by wise management to
stop the squandering and pollution of available water resources and by restructuring
cultivations.
The experts: The experts are a mixed group, of which the allegiance to a particular cause
may be influenced by client relations. In the long history of the Acheloos project, this diffuse
group of experts had an important role. A large number of Greek and foreign consultants
produced a record number of studies. Apart from purely engineering studies, private firms,
university committees, university teachers, professional organizations and individual experts
have carried out numerous studies and assessments as regards the project. In the Acheloos case,
putting aside consultancy work commissioned and paid by the central government, the balance
of expert opinion was against the project, although there have been exceptions.
Political parties and politicians: The two major political parties which have alternately
occupied power in the decade 2000-2010 are in agreement with the project. These parties
however, are not single actors speaking with one voice. Individual politicians are influenced by
the voters of their constituencies, which becomes amply evident when for instance a politician
elected in Thessaly occupies a crucial ministerial post.
Local Societies and Movements: It has been indicated already that local societies are
important actors. The farmers of Thessaly are well organized and the defense of their economic
interests takes regularly an extremely aggressive form. It is not insignificant that the completion
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of the diversion project was among their claims when they blocked all national highways in
2010 to press the government over other issues and claims.
European Commission: The EC has systematically remained aloof of this process. This is
surprising given the size of funds channeled into Greece during the last 25 years under the EU
Structural Policy. The EU decided at an early stage not to co-finance the project, although it
had funded some minor work at the beginning, probably because feasibility studies it
commissioned showed that the project was uneconomic. It intervened at some point to
challenge the legality of contract awards to construction companies, but on the whole kept its
distance.
Construction companies: The construction companies executing the project are no doubt
important “behind-the-scenes” actors, whose role however it is extremely difficult to assess.
Media: The media have played a role in the history of the project. Naturally they do not
have a uniform attitude, but they have given great prominence to the issue, with a constant
stream of reports. There are of course newspapers which champion environmental causes and
have maintained a critical stance all along. The local press, either in Thessaly or
Aetoloakarnania, has supported the views of their readers.
Consumers and taxpayers: The national consumer and taxpayer is not directly involved in
the controversy and the shifting of costs, risks and vulnerabilities. But he / she bears the cost of
agricultural produce when it reaches the shelves of super markets and greengrocers and
shoulders the cost of the construction projects.
All in all, opposition to the project originates mainly in Aetoloakarnania, represented by
local government and local citizen movements, and focuses mostly on environmental issues
and the degradation of valuable ecological resources, which also impacts on the local economy
and the prospects of development, primarily of tourism. Practically all the large environmental
NGOs of the country have lent their support to protesters and were among the first to challenge
government decisions in the courts. On the other hand, support for the project came from
administrative authorities, farming cooperatives and other organizations of Thessaly, but above
all from two extremely powerful actors, the central government and the Greek Public Power
Corporation. It should be noted that some of the project components (dams, reservoirs and
power stations) can become operational solely for electric energy production, a possibility
which could justify their existence even if the project’s irrigation role is terminated. Attitudes
on the side of central government seem to be changing after the October 2009 national
elections and the formation of a new ministry (Ministry for the Environment, Energy and
Climate Change). It may be the case that current economic crisis will resolve conflicts by
cancelling the project altogether (ENSURE project, Del. 3.1, Wassenhoven, Sapountzaki et al.
2010).
Winners and losers out of a project for mitigation of Social-Economic Drought
The threats the entire project area (both Thessaly and Aetoloakarnania) is facing today
include drought, declining precipitations, ecological degradation and decline of quality of
environmental flows, all exacerbated by the process of climate change. The latter’s impact is
well documented in EU reports (Commission of the European Communities, 2008 and 2009).
In the last few years the effect of climate change and its implications for the Acheloos project
has been repeatedly stressed by experts as evidence mounts that there will be important impacts
on the amount of water reaching the river basin (Mylopoulos, 2007; Mylopoulos et al., 2009).
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There are already indications of a reduced flow. There is therefore an open question regarding
the contribution that the river can make in the future to the water economy of Thessaly. The
magnitude of the task is such that elementary respect to the precautionary principle should at
least make policy makers more cautious.
If concerns for the future
of the Acheloos catchment basin,
its mountain hinterland and its
estuary are justified then we have
a clear case of the vulnerability
of the farmers and the
agricultural economy of Thessaly
being transferred to
Aetoloakarnania, through the
diversion of the river. An
extremely complex eco-human
system is involved in this case,
but there is clearly an ecological
system (that of the Acheloos
river basin) which is called
upon to provide the natural
capital for the mitigation of risks to which the farming community of Thessaly is exposed and
vulnerable. The opposing argument is that the natural resources necessary for risk mitigation
and vulnerability adaptation exist within the territorial entity of Thessaly itself.
The case of the Acheloos diversion revolves around the interaction of macro-scale
vulnerability actors (each with own perceptions). Local vulnerability actors are also present in
this interplay, given the local impact of some of the project components. What is now being
recognized is that there is a broader socio-environmental context the vulnerability of which has
been unappreciated. To appreciate it properly demands a fresh look at the whole problem and
the recognition that attention to fragmented vulnerabilities ought to give way to the
vulnerability of a more global social and environmental system. In conclusion the Acheloos
project is a gigantic case of vulnerability transference particularly from the farmers and the
agricultural economy of Thessaly to the eco-human system of Aetoloakarnania and to the
taxpayers (ENSURE project, Del. 3.1, Wassenhoven, Sapountzaki et al. 2010).
Dodecanese Islands: Multiple perceptions on Socio-economic Drought conflicting with
one another
Prevailing development and water consumption patterns
The Dodecanese islands complex in Aegean Sea, Greece, is characterized by territorial
and administrative fragmentation, development disparities and local economy particularities,
water resource scarcity and fragile ecosystems. In terms of local climatic conditions the region
represents a case of low precipitation, high duration of sunshine and as a result high
evapotranspiration (Kehagias, Tselepidou, 2010).
In terms of water resource availability the islands of the complex can be classified to
those endowed with groundwater resources and those without where the latter are considered
Figure 1 :Map of the project area: The Acheloos river basin on the west and the Thessaly plain on the east of the Pindus range (source: ENVIPLAN s.a.)
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Figure 2: The Dodecanese islands complex. Islands with bright colour rely partially or exclusively on water carriers for the procurement of
their water resources. (Source: Regional Authority of Southern
Aegean - www.notioaigaio.gr).
arid. In the past, management of water
resources was on par with the environmental
limits; however, in recent decades
perceptions and demands of the water users
as regards the availability and use of water
resources have changed significantly.
Water shortage in arid islands in
combination with tourism growth has led
local people to gradually abandon agriculture
as their main occupation and turn massively
to the tertiary sector of production by
establishing accommodation and service
facilities for tourists. Agriculture is still being
practiced today in larger islands but its
products are usually distributed locally.
Secondary sector of production has only a
small share in the total GDP. Naturally then,
primary and tertiary sectors account for the
majority of water consumption in the Dodecanese.
Besides, more than 90% of the water that is being consumed for such purposes
originates from sources that are private, non-monitored and in many cases unlicensed.
Consequently, the Dodecanese islands – especially the smaller ones - are highly vulnerable to
social-economic and ecological drought
which is further exacerbated during the
summer season when population is doubled
or even trebled with the arrival of tourists and
summer holiday makers.
Water consumers’ perceptions and consequent practices
“Water users prefer to avoid requesting permission to bore; they’d rather bypass the
bureaucratic procedure and proceed to private water abstraction by breaching the law”. This
phrase, which was mentioned during the interview with officials of the Decentralized
Administration of the Aegean, illuminates perceptions of a crowd of water users when they are
faced with the risk of drought. Indeed, the ineffective and vulnerable to lobbying and
corruption decision-making system combined with the lack of an integrated plan for water
resource management and relevant public information has allowed the expansion of such
practices of arbitrary and often illegal water procurement. Furthermore, managing authorities at
the regional (self-government) level are not inclined to reject requests on water abstraction
licenses - especially in the large islands – for reasons related to electoral clientele relationships
with the water users (Sapountzaki, Wassenhoven, 2005). This policy of general acceptance of
requested licenses in combination with local incapability to monitor illegal drillings results to
the transference of drought risk to lawful public and private water consumers, to the
transformation of social-economic drought to ecological and ultimately to always more severe
cases of hydrological drought in the long run. Under the circumstances, costly emergency
measures during the summer are indispensable and become the predominant mode of only
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social-economic drought management always to the detriment of permanent population water
rights and needs
In the small island of Leros for instance there are more than 60 legal and illegal drillings
which contribute to the adverse environmental effects that are observed in the underground
aquifer (Sapountzaki, Wassenhoven, 2005).
Traditional practices of water management such as rainwater collection and storage in
the buildings that could serve as a preventive, permanent drought mitigation measure are rarely
being practiced today and the current regulatory framework does not consider such practices as
compulsory. Moreover, traditional practices have become insufficient since changes in lifestyle
have resulted in a much higher water demand. In the island of Kos for instance a large number
of houses have lawn, a trend that is inconsistent with the sustainable use of the island’s limited
water resources.
Other modern water management practices such as recycling of wastewater are
practiced only by hotels for purposes of irrigation of lawn and ornamental plants. However, this
is not part of a wider conscious private initiative towards drought mitigation, since many hotels
in the Dodecanese rely on their own boreholes for the necessary and unrestricted water
procurement, thus minimizing their dependence upon the public water supply network.
Nevertheless, groups of permanent population who have experienced drought incidents
tend to be more rational users. For instance, several farming groups the income of which is
based on irrigation water quality and availability on a yearly basis are forced to make sensible
use of their sole private (legal or illegal) source of water abstraction. Otherwise, they will be
confronted with very high water prices and dependency on unreliable networks of water supply.
In any case private individual rationality cannot substitute collective. Wise use of water
resources by some private individuals does not benefit them or the whole community due to the
fact that nearly all water consumers (legal and illegal, rational and irrational) drill from the
same aquifer (Sapountzaki, Wassenhoven, 2005).
Social-economic Drought mitigation solutions and impact on the long term hazard and
vulnerability
Arid islands rely exclusively on carriers or desalinization for their water procurement.
Despite the fact that water transportation is subsidized by the government in order to maintain
the public utility character of water supply, there is growing concern that certain interest groups
regulate water demand. Such speculation could be boosted further by the fact that in the past 15
years the transportation cost per cubic meter has multiplied, whereas the total amount of
transported water has been significantly reduced (Table 1). In all respects, this practice clearly
demonstrates that water is not perceived as a common good but rather a privatized commodity.
Furthermore, the alternative solution of desalinization has been only partially
implemented. Unfortunately, desalinated water tends to be very expensive, i.e. surpassing even
the cost of transported water. As long as arid islands continue to depend on privatized and
temporary solutions of water procurement, their vulnerability to social-economic and
hydrological drought will retain or even be amplified in the future.
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Islands endowed with groundwater resources on the other hand, although seemingly less
vulnerable to drought, they might face hazardous conditions as a result of the prevailing modes
and patterns of water abstraction and consumption. The widespread perception that large
islands don’t lack water resources inhibits actors from viewing the imbalance between offer
and demand owing to excessive development of water-consuming activities and overpopulation
during the summer months. Indeed, the conditions of repeated and non-monitored drilling,
allotting water to smaller islands and delay in the implementation of more permanent measures
to restrict demand may lead to always more frequent hydrological drought incidents.
Restrictions imposed through pricing policies
have been applied in several cases of large
islands but they do not yield the expected
results. Expensive public water pushes users to
seek private, inexpensive and in some cases
more reliable sources of abstraction that better
suit their demands. In such cases stiff water
pricing does not act as a driver toward wiser
consumption, but rather as an excuse for users
to rely on private (even illegal) sources of
water procurement.
In all respects, reliance on external
water resource subsidies somewhat distorts
drought risk and vulnerability perceptions. On
the other hand, lack of a robust and coherent
water management strategy that will address
issues of water use optimization and responses
on drought incidents has allowed the
continuation of private water procurement, thus
increasing the risk of hydrological drought.
North-Eastern Crete: Misleading perceptions of socio-economic drought allowing
development that overrides environmental limits.
Land-use pattern and its impact on water availability
The imposing forms of the mountains of Idi, White Mountains and Dikti which
characterize the rough Cretan terrain are covered with snow for at least six months every year.
However, proximity to the sea, uneven geographical and seasonal distribution of precipitation
and the fact that the majority of the abstracted water originates from underground resources
result in the formulation of drought-prone areas, especially in the Eastern part of the island.
Indeed, according to available data only 13% of the total abstracted water resources are derived
from surface water sources (Chartzoulakis et al., 2001).
Administratively, the north-eastern part of Crete consists of the Prefectures of Iraklio
and Lassithi. During the past decades, this area has been extensively developed along the
waterfront in an unplanned and disorderly way with several cases of adjacent conflicting land
uses. The most common land uses today include urban and holiday residence, large hotel
ANNUAL QUANTITIES OF AND COST FOR
TRANSPORTED WATER IN THE PREFECTURE OF
DODECANESE ISLANDS
YEAR Quantities
(in m3)
Cost per cubic meter
(in Euros)
1997 402.295 2,32
1998 484.994 2,71
1999 461.855 3,05
2000 555.212 3,61
2001 621.297 4,38
2002 617.745 5,03
2003 605.019 5,31
2004 759.737 5,31
2005 969.676 5,24
2006 1.005.338 4,88
2007 1.101.628 4,61
2008 1.141.724 5,05
2009 826.910 5,05
2010 413.909 9,81
2011 288.885 11,07
2012 248.846 11,07
TOTAL 10.505.070
Table 1: Annual quantities of and expenses for transported water in the Prefecture of Dodecanese islands. (Source: Decentralized
Authority of the Aegean).
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complexes and leisure facilities for tourists, retail and agricultural production, also industrial
and transportation infrastructure.
Concentration of all these facilities in such a small geographical area in combination
with the fact that many of them are quite water consuming has placed excessive pressure on
local water resources. Choices regarding the development of, say, golf courses, the installation
of swimming pools and the application of water demanding crops were based mainly on socio-
political criteria rather than environmental ones. Such decisions lead to a pattern of water
consumption that by far exceeds water availability and supply possibilities, thus potentially
instigating ecological and hydrological drought risk. Indeed, the annual demand for water per
capita of permanent population in the Prefectures of Iraklio and Lassithi is 915 cubic meters,
which is significantly higher than the national average of approximately 750 cubic meters.
(Papamastorakis, Kritsotakis et al, 2001).
Current practices of water procurement and emerging perceptions
The inherently unpredictable nature of drought events may compel managing authorities
to seek emergency measures such as drilling of new boreholes or renting of existing ones that
can produce immediate results. It is apparent that although these measures briefly achieve their
goals, the repeatability of these practices is likely to result in the amplification of hydrological
drought risk. This hazardous situation is exacerbated by the fact that no mitigation plan on how
to cope with long-term drought is available at the moment. Furthermore, the adoption of
modern and more permanent methods of water acquisition such as recycling and desalinization
have taken longer than expected to be implemented mostly because of conflicts of perceptions
and interests and inevitable lack of coordination between the administrative and other actors
involved in the management of water resources.
At the same time, many
privately owned plots and
agricultural holdings use a private –
and often illegal – network of
boreholes and wells, despite the
fact that drilling is strictly
prohibited in the overpopulated
parts of the island. It is estimated
that approximately 50% of the
water used for agriculture today is
abstracted from private boreholes
which the authorities are unable to
monitor (Papamastorakis,
Kritsotakis et al., 2001).
Lack of sufficient monitoring is combined with public water shortage and high water
rates, compels users to continue using this private network of water abstraction. This trend has
led to frequent hydrological drought incidents, with the most recent occurring in 2010. Despite
the fact of repeated experiences of drought and respective impacts, water law offenders
continue with the same practices of abstraction and consumption. This reveals a learning gap
where vivid memory does not act as a risk aversion factor. Simultaneously, dissemination of
Figure 3: Map of Eastern Crete, showing the areas where restrictions on drilling of bores and wells apply. (Source: Decentralized Administration of Crete).
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information regarding drought risk and the possibilities for a viable water policy on the basis of
consultation of and consensus among stakeholders is minimal.
In the long run, these practices of irrational water abstraction and consumption have
resulted in the extensive salinization of the underground aquifer in many parts of north-eastern
Crete. Severe degradation in the quality of water has had negative impact on both the
availability of water resources and the quality and quantity of the agricultural products of the
wider area
The Aposelemis dam as a permanent drought mitigation solution.
In response to this manmade hydrological drought, the authorities aimed at a more
permanent mitigation solution by constructing a dam that would exploit the Aposelemis river
water volume. The Aposelemis river is located in the region of Lassithi and is one of only few
perennial streams of north-eastern Crete. It flows from the mountains of Dikti towards the sea
and is the main draining corridor for the Lassithi plateau, which lies within its catchment basin.
The dam, which was planned and developed by the former Ministry of Public Works, has a
reservoir capacity of 27 million cubic meters and enough supply to alleviate water shortage
issues that north-eastern Crete is facing today. The authorities anticipate that access to such
abundant water resources will contribute to the reduction of use of a large number of boreholes
that are operated by the authorities today.
At the same time however the new misleading perceptions of water abundance as
created by the dam do not help users to change their mentalities as regards their current malign
water-wasting practices. The dam is also likely to alter the geological and ecological conditions
of the area. During the interviews, concern was raised on the negative impact the dam may
have on the draining process of the Lassithi plateau as well as on the refilling of the
underground aquifer of the areas located immediately downstream. Moreover, the abrupt halt of
the river’s water supply at its delta will most certainly allow the sea to move further inland,
worsening the salinization of the aquifer and further reducing the fertility of the land and the
quality of the agricultural products in the area of Malia. When interventions of such scale are
designed and implemented by central authorities, they are usually not tailored accordingly to
the prevailing local conditions. Consequently, the ensuing impacts on the local environment,
ecology and society are likely to be underestimated.
One might wonder whether the dam project would be a necessary solution to drought
should competent authorities conducted better monitoring of water data, mutual coordination
and appropriate public information and stakeholders’ participation in drafting and
implementing an integrated water policy. The authors of this article are convinced that local
people mentalities prioritizing tourism development and income growth over the risk of
hydrological drought would be very difficult to reverse. This kind of perceptions attributing
low priority to hydrological drought and showing preference to individualized solutions to
social-economic vulnerability to drought tend to drive hydrological regions far beyond their
bearing capacity. In such cases and as responsible authorities follow the will of their political
clientele one major technical intervention (like the Aposelepis dam) will not ever suffice and
subsequent interventions will certainly follow.
12
Conclusion
In the beginning of this paper we stated that drought incidents are to a great extent
socially constructed. Furthermore, human responses towards drought mitigation are based on
the way that individuals consider themselves vulnerable against drought incidents. Past
experience in combination with drought risk information may retain high levels of risk
perception. However, different priorities and approaches of individual actors and stakeholders
lead to multiple interpretations of vulnerability and consequently non-univocal perceptions and
responses on drought risk. These result in non-preemptive drought mitigation measures that
focus on the problem only according to the views and perceptions of the actors involved and
often fail to sufficiently address drought issues that are observed in the ecological and
hydrological system.
The common point of all three cases that were discussed above is that drought
mitigation measures aim at satisfying the current and future water demand, regardless of the
fact that drought risk and the related perceptions stems from unwise practices of water
abstraction. This mismatch indicates that drought mitigation measures are often decided on the
basis of insufficient knowledge dissemination and risk communication. The prevailing
interventions are made in a top-down mode of response to drought and pursue satisfaction of
partial development interests ignoring the wider public interest and hydrological system
protection.
We maintain that unilateral use of perceptions of socio-economic drought as drivers of
water resource (and drought risk) management is a recipe of hydrological and ecological
drought mismanagement. An integrated approach is necessary; one that would incorporate
ecological perspective, promote the importance of collective solutions to water shortage and
encompass all actors involved in the management of water resources. The way forward is to
achieve convergence of different perceptions through enhanced drought risk communication
and promotion of a mentality that through time would result in the abolishment of malign
practices in water use.
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