Cyprus had the highest rate in the water exploitation plus (WEI+) index, which helps measure water scarcity, in the EU in 2022, reaching 71%, much higher than the accepted threshold that denotes sever water scarcity (40%), and having increased significantly since data collection began in 2000.
According to European Environment Agency data shared by Eurostat ahead of World Water Day (March 22nd), the EU’s WEI+ index stood at 5.8% in 2022, an increase of 0.9 percentage points since 2000. This was the highest value recorded since 2000.
Cyprus recorded an even more significant increase, from 59.5% in 2000, to 71.0% to 2022, indicating that freshwater resources use was and remains unsustainable. The WEI+ index for Cyprus has been high since 2000 (from 59.5% in 2000 to 76.7% in 2004), consistently recording rates higher than 70% for most years on record.
The water exploitation index plus (WEI+) measures total water consumption as a percentage of the renewable freshwater resources available for a given territory and period. Values above 20% are generally considered a sign of water scarcity, and values greater than 40% indicate severe water scarcity.
In 2022, Malta and Romania were in second and third place, with values of 34.1% and 21.0%. Greece, Portugal and Spain followed with 13.8%,10.1% and 8.8% respectively, were below the threshold of 20%, but still above most EU countries. Moreover, regional differences and the severity of water scarcity during the summer months are not visible in these annual national average values.
In particular in southern Europe, water scarcity can be a severe issue in spring and summer, aggravated by high pressure on water resources through agricultural needs, public water supply and tourism.
Latvia, Croatia, Sweden, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Finland and Luxembourg all recorded values of the WEI+ index under 1%, indicating they were not under water stress conditions.
Also read: Dry southern Greece reveals EU’s challenge to conserve water
Source: CNA
