-                     Partner 4. Water Development Department (WDD), Cyprus

The Water Development Department (WDD) is a Government Department within the Ministry of Agriculture Natural Resources and the Environment responsible for the Water Development in the Republic of Cyprus. Its duties and responsibilities cover the planning, design, construction, operation, management and maintenance of the Government and other communal water projects. Since all water belongs to the Government almost all projects constructed are carried out by the WDD. The Department is also responsible for water allocation and water rationing applying the Government’s policy and decisions.

WDD has prepared and implemented a Water Master Plan which included the construction of dams, recharge works, conveyors, distribution systems, water treatment plants, sewage plants, desalination plants, reuse projects etc, aimed at satisfying the water requirements of the Republic. The projects cover two major sectors the Irrigation and the Domestic water supply. It employs around 400 persons, 65 of which are qualified (Civil Engineers, Irrigation Engineers, Chemical Engineers, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Hydrologists, Geologists and Sanitary Engineers) and the remaining are semi qualified personnel in the subjects water development and water management, accountants etc.

The Department has an annual budget around 70 millions of dollars, 40 millions for new projects and the remaining for the operation, management and maintenance of the water projects. It also participates to Research and Development Projects aiming at the enhancement of the water resources management.

Cyprus being a semi arid country has a scarcity of water which together with the frequently occurring droughts make the water problem a major issue for the Government and the people. During the last 10 years the country has suffered severe droughts with 6 years with rainfall below average(70-80 % of the normal). Under such circumstances the role of WDD was very critical and decisive since it was trusted by the Government to take all necessary steps and measures to mitigate the adverse effects. The Departments and its staff experience and know how on drought mitigation is very extensive and valuable. WDDhas developed processes and policies within the water management procedures that proved very effective.

The leader of the research group will be NICOS  X. TSIOURTIS, Senior Water Engineer in charge of the Operation and  Maintenance (Water Supply Projects) Division at WDD, that has more than 30-year experience in Irrigation Engineering: Planning, Design, (Via system analysis methods) Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Management of Modern Water Projects; Water Institutions, Irrigation Water Cost and Pricing, Gabion Recharge Projects, Effluent Reuse for Irrigation; Water Resources Planning, Development and Management, Management Procedures especially under drought conditions. Water allocation via systems analysis. Optimization; Management Operation and Maintenance of Water Resources and Irrigation Projects under drought or water scarcity conditions; Sea Water Desalination Plant Operation and Contract Management.  Some of his most recent pubblications are:

-          Operational Water Resources Allocation under water shortage conditions via Linear Programming Simulation Model, 1995 EWRA95-Symposium, Nicosia-Cyprus.

-          “National Report of Cyprus on Water”. Prepared for the Mediterranean Conference on Water. Rome 1992

-          “Advanced Technology Equipment for Modern Conveyance and distribution systems”, EU INITIATIVE EUROFORM, International Seminar, Athens, Greece, 1995.

-          “Water Resources Management Under Drought or Water Shortage Conditions”  Proceeding EWRA95 - Water Symposium - Editor, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1995.

-          “Drought Management Plans and other measures for the Mediterranean area.”, Presented to the Mediterranean Water Network Conference on “Mediterranean Water Policy: Building on existing experience” , Valencia 16-18 April 1998, Spain.