Major problems in Thessaly as illegal dams built on Pineios River

Wed, 28/02/2007

The Local Organization for Pineios Irrigation (TOEB) in northern Greece's Larissa Prefecture reported that water levels in the Pineios River were perilously low, warning cotton farmers to switch to less thirsty crops, such as wheat, this spring if they hoped to have enough irrigation supplies. Aquifers in the Thessaly Plain are also low because of a dry winter, and the Lake Plastira reservoir is at the same level that it was in September 2006. TOEB President Giorgos Ladopoulos called water forecasts "grim." He blamed part of the problem upon illegal dams in Trikala Prefecture that diverted some of the Pineios' flow.