توسعه پایدار منابع طبیعی در شمال یونان، با تمرکز بر قابلیت اطمینان تامین آب و حفاظت از بهداشت عمومی

The rapid and almost uncontrolled growth of population has a result a continuously increasing water demand in agriculture needs, industrial uses and domestic services. This has a dramatic impact on the available water resources and at the same time put the basic infrastructure facilities under severe pressure. As a result, significant deficiencies have emerged such as service discontinuity and interruption in distribution and delivery. This most of the times leads to contamination of potable water or at least affects the quality of it. Research has shown that water resources in Northern Greece is well above the current, the mid- and the long-term needs of its local communities. Although only 79% of the municipalities which correspond to 61% of the population of the area is provided with uninterrupted water flow. This is due to unwise strategies used in water management at a national, regional and local level along with lack and bad quality of infrastructures concerning water reservoirs and water networks. There is a critical need for advance actions to be taken and arrangement of integrated strategies which will ensure both water sufficiency and protection of the public health.

The water demand is continuously increasing due to mainly population growth and raising needs in agriculture, industrial uses and domestic services. Integrated water management has a strong impact on long-term protection and sustainability. The water recourses in Greece are considered to be the most potential among the Mediterranean countries. However, variations in the hydrogeological conditions, the rainfall intensity and frequency, the population density and the industrial activities affect water discharge rates in many parts of the country. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that sustainable management of water resources in Northern Greece, in relation to interruptive water flow and delivery at existing domestic service systems, is essential to ensure adequate supply of water in terms of reliability, quality and quantity. Therefore, multitemporal testing of the frequency of service discontinuity in interruptions and delivery has been conducted in Macedonia and Thrace, and it has examined its interrelation with water regions and water reserves of the area. Finally, it has studied the impact on the public health [1,2].

It has been proved that there is water sufficiency in Macedonia and Thrace, which covers completely the human needs of the above areas and especially needs in potable water. Lack and intermissions in the water supply are due to the unwise strategies used in water management at a national, regional and local level along with lack and bad quality of infrastructures concerning water reservoirs and water supply networks.