Water resources management in the Island of Crete, Greece, with emphasis on the agricultural use

Crete is considered as a semi-arid region. The average annual precipitation is estimated to be 900 mm, the potential renewable water resources 2650 and the real water used about 485 million m³/yr. The major water use in Crete is in irrigation for agriculture (84.5% of the total consumption) while domestic use is 12% and other uses 3.5%. Crete shows significant regional variations in water availability, especially in coastal, eastern and southern regions due to tourism and agriculture. It has a relatively high per capita water availability, which is slightly lower than that of the country. The demand for irrigation water is high, while at the same time only 31.0% of the available agricultural land is irrigated. The growing water requirements make the rational management of water resources extremely important for development to be sustainable and for the environment to be served. To overcome the water shortage, especially in the future, several measures should be taken for conservation of water resources and protection of the environment. The integrated water resources management, securing water for the future in Crete, should include measures that are purely technical (increase the use of surface water, improvement of distribution systems and irrigation scheduling, recycling, use of water saving irrigation systems, use of reclaimed, and brackish waters, etc.) and socio-economic (pricing, rationalization, extension, training, etc.).