Drying lakes and thirsty trees: In drought-hit Greece, water trucks are keeping crops alive
A severe drought in northern Greece, worsened by successive heat waves and low rainfall, is causing water shortages that are threatening agriculture, drying up lakes, and stressing local communities dependent on tourism
NEA SILATA, Greece (AP) — Six weeks before harvest, there’s no water left in the ground for farmer Dimitris Papadakis’ olive grove in northern Greece, so he has started a new morning routine.
Joined by his teenage son, he uses a truck to bring water from nearby areas. Using a small generator, he connects the vehicle to irrigation pipes to save what’s left of his thirsty crop.
“Our boreholes have almost dried up ... We now depend on tankers to irrigate our fields,” says Papadakis, who heads an agricultural cooperative in a village in Halkidiki, a three-fingered peninsula in northern Greece which is popular with tourists.
This summer, southern Europe has been hammered by successive heat waves, following on from below-average rainfall for up to three years. Drought spots on the map of the region have expanded. In Greece, the effects include water shortages, dried-up lakes, and even the death of wild horses.
