1. “WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE REGION OF ORESTIADA” Orestiada, May 2008 CLAY - PROJECT Arvaniti Eleni Kakos Stelios Papantoniou Manolis Paraskevopoulou Magda

2. The aim of the project The water balance of the region The surface and underground water Hydrochemistry of the water The water use  Proposals for a more effective water resources management in Orestiada.  The aim of the project is to register the way water resources are managed in the region of Northern Evros. Particularly:

3. Geographical position of the region

4. Present situation  Unreasonable waste of water resources for urban and agricultural use  Precipitations are decreasing  The springs of the two (2) most important rivers of the region (Evros and Ardas) are in Bulgaria that controls the flow of the water Results  The quantity is gradually decreasing  Irrigation needs cannot be covered  The quality of surface water is continually going down because of pollutants which are dumped by Bulgaria  Dangers for public health

5. Distribution of crops  The region of Orestiada is mainly agricultural

6. Works of water resources management

7. Information for the hydrology of the region Surface: 1.283 km 2 Rain-measuring stations Dikaia Kyprinos Orestiada Metaxades Didimoteicho

8. Annual distribution of precipitation (1966 – 2001) Orestiada min: 320 mm (1986) max: 949 mm (1998) Average: 538 mm/year

9. Metaxades min: 261 mm (2001) max: 1.022 mm (1966) Average: 631 mm/year

10. Distribution of mean precipitation/year (mm)  Using the software WinSurf, it is calculated that the volume of mean precipitation/year for the period 1966 –2001 is 720.850.000 m 3

11.  The driest month is August with 30.166.000 m 3

12.  The rainiest month is November with 92.200.000 m 3

13. Mean precipitation – Evapotranspiration - Surplus

14. Variation of monthly precipitation and surplus  From October to May precipitation (P) is higher than evapotranspiration (ETr) and consequently there is surplus.  From June to September there is no surplus because P < ETr.

15. Surface water resources in the region of Orestiada  The flow of river Evros was gauged only for the period 1970 – 1974. From then the flow was gauged once from 2/2/2002 to 5/2/2002. Flow variation 1970 - 1974

16.  The flow of river Erithropotamos (Red River) was gauged from 25/1/1974 to 21/2/1983. From then the flow hasn’t been gauged yet. Flow variation 1974 - 1983  The flow of river Ardas hasn’t been gauged yet, although it is of great importance for the whole region.

17.  The constant level of underground water resources is due to their communication with the rivers Evros and Ardas. At the fields in the North and South of the river Ardas, however, it has been observed a fall of the level because of over-pumping for irrigation. Underground water resources in the region of Orestiada

18. Water quality in the region of Orestiada

19. Conclusions  The examined parameters don’t surpass the permissible limits.  Surface and underground water resources in the region are suitable for irrigation because SAR < 6 in all the examined samples.  In general, underground water resources quality in the region is very good.

20. Water use in the region of Orestiada  Water resources cover the needs for irrigation and for potable water.  The r.Ardas is the only one of the three rivers that covers the needs for irrigation. The Bulgarian Government, however, allows only 186*10^6 m3 to be used for these needs.  As a consequence there are many drills in the fields in order to satisfy the needs for water during the summer. The fields in the North and South of r.Ardas are irrigated by an extended irrigational net.

21. Distribution of irrigational water  From 29.650 ha cultivated in the region, 15.714,5 ha (53%) are irrigated with surface water resources and the rest 13.935,5 ha (47%) with drills.

22. Potable water in the region of Orestiada  The needs for potable water are satisfied with drills and in a small percentage with springs in the north region of the r.Ardas.  There are 6 Municipalities in the region and the total water consumption for 2001 was 3.242.000 m 3. Municipality of Orestiada has the highest consumption and Municipality of Didimoticho follows.

23. Water consumption (m3) in the Municipality of Orestiada min: 1.176.000 m 3 (2000) max: 1.882.000 m 3 (1995) Average consumption: 1.504.000 m 3 /year

24. Water Consumption (m3) in the Municipality of Didimoticho min: 367.000 m 3 (1995) max: 686.000 m 3 (2001) Average Consumption: 535.000 m 3 /year

25. Municipality of Orestiada: 96,30 % for households 3,37 % for army 0,29 % for industry 0,04 % for schools Municipality of Didimoticho: 72,11 % for households 15,29 % for army 9,83 % for industry 2,19 % for schools

26. Summary Volume of Mean Annual Precipitation 720,84*10^6 m 3 Evapotranspiration (75,7%) 545,68*10^6 m 3 Surplus (24,3%) 175,16*10^6 m 3

27. Mean Annual Surplus 175,16*10^6 m 3 Run-offInfiltration to the underground water resources

28. Proposals  Continuous and systematic registration of precipitation in all the stations and flow variation in the rivers.  Construction of small dams in order to hold the surplus during the winter. Dams have to be constructed in the western region where surplus is higher.  Disaster of inactive drills and very strict appliance of the laws for every new drill.

29.  Continuous registration of surface and underground water quality.  Motivate new methods of irrigation which demand less amount of water, e.g. irrigation with drips.  Inform citizens for the value of water and increase the value of the m3 (cubic meter).