Nafplion: In the Argolida region of southern Greece, water seeps through cracks in an aging irrigation canal that supplies vast orange groves. Below ground, outdated pipes leak more than half of the water they carry, according to officials.
During the summer, when reservoir levels plummet, residents in the regional capital Nafplion are warned against drinking the brackish, contaminated water that authorities pump from backup sources.
“You can smell the difference in the water, feel the dryness on your clothes,” said Lydia Sarakinioti, a jeweler in Nafplion who relies on bottled water even for cooking.
The European Union has launched a new initiative to tackle the worsening water crisis, which it says already affects 38% of its population. Member states have until next year to assess leakage levels before the EU imposes a legal threshold. The program, aimed at boosting water security, is expected to cost hundreds of billions of euros as southern European nations battle erratic rainfall and rising temperatures linked to climate change.
A System Struggling to Cope
Greece, located on Europe’s sweltering southern frontier, faces an especially daunting challenge. Last summer and winter were the country’s hottest on record, and many areas endured prolonged droughts.
Years of underinvestment, exacerbated by the 2009-2018 debt crisis, have left the country’s water infrastructure in disrepair. Government data indicates that Greece loses nearly half its drinking water to leaks and theft—almost double the EU average of 23%. Many underground pipeline networks remain unmapped, with some either undigitized or nonexistent, experts and officials say.
Since 2019, the Greek government has allocated over €1.5 billion to drinking water infrastructure. However, in Argolida—an agricultural hub producing about a third of Greece’s oranges—the scale of the problem demands much more investment.
“There are many problems, and we are trying to gradually tackle them all,” said Socrates Doris, head of Nafplion’s municipal water provider, adding that the company is seeking EU funding.
During a visit in November, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to address Argolida’s water crisis, proposing an expansion of the irrigation network and a desalination unit to treat saline water.
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However, government officials stress that urgent structural repairs must come first.
“If an area’s network leaks everywhere, what’s the point of buying a new desalination unit or drilling a well?” said Petros Varelidis, secretary general for water resources at the environment ministry.
In some areas, leakage rates reach an alarming 80%, he noted.
“The needs are a lot bigger than the resources available.”
Declining Water Quality
Water shortages in Argolida have led to a decline in water quality. When the lake supplying Nafplion shrinks, authorities supplement it with brackish water from the submarine spring at Anavalos.
Water tests conducted between June 2022 and November 2024, seen by Reuters, revealed chloride and sodium levels exceeding permitted limits. These contaminants pose health risks, particularly for individuals with hypertension or kidney problems.
The crisis extends beyond Nafplion. In the coastal town of Ermioni, only 8% of the 13,500 residents have continuous access to safe drinking water, according to local government data submitted to parliament.
Reliance on plastic bottled water is widespread, creating additional environmental concerns.
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“The quality is really bad. It harms electric devices, such as the washing machine,” said Evi Leventi, 58, a resident of Ermioni.
Meanwhile, in the parched farmlands surrounding the town, desperate farmers drill as deep as 300 meters in search of water. In many cases, they find only salty groundwater, as seawater intrusion has contaminated depleted underground aquifers.
“Every drop of water is indispensable… We pin our hopes on rainy winters,” said farmer George Mavras.
