Stop of the diversion of Achelous river in Greeceby | 31-03-2014 08:19 |
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      The river Achelous is located in the central Greece. Its length reaches 220 km and is the largest by waterflow Greek river. Also, it is considered to be one of the most important rivers–ecosystems of Europe. Since many years (from 1992) there has been a large conflict on whether the water of Achelous should continue their natural path to the sea, or if a big part of it should be diversed in order to provide water to the plain of Thessalia, the biggest flat country in Greece. The farmers who cultivate that area, claim that the water supply they receive is not enough to support the almost–monoculture of cotton, due to the fact that it requires a huge amount of water. Additionally, the water under the ground has run out and in order to find it, workers destruct wells of at least 200m depth. The only solution to the problem, as they think is the diversion of Achelous towards Thessalia. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the areas where Achelous originally passes from, react. Some of them because this diversion, which will cost billions of Euros, will flood their villages, while others because they argue that the water which will be left to the river after the diversion will not be enough to supply their cultivations. As a result, those areas can be desertificated. Some environmental groups, such as ''WWF Greece'', the ''Greek Society for the protection of Environment and Cultural Heritage'', claim that the diversion will guide to a massive ecological destruction of one of the most important ecosystems of Greece. Because of the size of this work and the diminution of water in those areas, there will be a significant decrease in the rare and unique biodiversity of an area that is protected by the European Union and the wonderful wetland in the delta of the river will be destructed, resulting to the replacement of the fresh water of the river by salty water of the sea. Also, they doubt that the diversion can solve the water problem of Thessalia, and they suggest the cotton cultivations should be replaced by other ones, which will not require that large amount of water. As you can see from the pictures below, the project has been progressed. However, two months ago the Supreme Court of Greece, after the request of several environmental and local organizations, decided the interruption of this project due to unconvincing environmental impact assessment. After this court decision, the supporters of this plan, that firstly asked the diversion of 1.250.000m3 of water per year and after for 600.000m3, now they ask for 250.000m3 of water per year. In my opinion, there are arguments in both sides. However, we should decide carefully, always inclined to the side of the sustainable development. Otherwise, in some years we will be in the same or a worse position, with seriously damaged environment, less resources, and even less choices. |
