Properties abandoned decades ago in the submerged village of Kallio have re-emerged due to an ongoing drought in Central Greece that has caused the water in the Mornos reservoir, Athens' main water supply, to drop sharply.
The reservoir, located 200 kilometres west of the capital, has seen a 30% drop in its water reserves compared to last year, according to figures from Eydap, the Attica region’s water distribution company.
“Water levels at Mornos Lake have dropped by 40 metres,” says Yorgos Iosifidis, a retired resident who lives above the old Kallio village. Like residents, he had had to abandon his home in the late 1970s due to the construction of the Mornos Dam. Over 80 houses in Kallio, as well as the church and primary school, were “sacrificed” to supply Athens with water.
The dropping water levels, replenished by the nearby Mornos and Evinos rivers, have brought the ruins of the primary school and abandoned houses, previously submerged by the waters, back into view.
“If you zoom in with your camera, you will see the ground floor of my father-in-law’s two-storey house (…) and next to it, the remnants of my cousins’ house,” Mr. Iosifidis said.
The drought has worsened this year in Greece, which regularly experiences heatwaves. The last winter, the country's mildest on record, was followed by record heat in June and July, according to preliminary data from the national weather observatory.
Kallio has reappeared for the second time. The previous occasion was during a drought in the early 1990s, recalls Mr. Iosifidis. “If it doesn’t rain soon, the current level will continue to fall and the problem will be more serious than before,” he fears.
Facing the risk of water scarcity, Greek authorities have asked the 3.7 million inhabitants of the Attica region, the area encircling Athens and home to a third of the Greek population, to closely monitor their water consumption. No restrictions have been imposed, but there are daily appeals for moderation in the media and on social networks.
To strengthen the water supply, Eydap decided to activate additional sources near the capital.
“This year, it did not rain, it did not snow,” the utility stated, predicting that reserves will soon drop to 700 million m3, way below the usual 1.1 billion m3.
