Greece faces water crisis as crops wither and reservoirs run low

Greece is running short on water and the impact is already hitting crops just a short ferry ride from Athens. 

Reservoirs that feed the capital and the wider Attica region now hold roughly half the volume they did in 2022. On Aegina, which depends on that system, farmers say the warning lights are flashing.

It's been challenging during the harvest season for the island's famous pistachios. 

In a small family workshop, farmer Sokratis Emmanouil sorts freshly picked nuts as his parents did before him. But the trees are struggling. 

"The water in the boreholes gets saltier every year. We irrigate drop by drop, but it's never enough. One more hot summer and the trees won't recover," he says.

A long slide

The squeeze isn't just local. Since July, storage across the reservoirs serving Attica has fallen to around 520 million cubic meters — about half the 2022 level, according to the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company EYDAP and national reporting. 

That's a long slide, not a blip.

Hydrogeologist Panagiotis Savatakakis says Athens relies on dams outside Attica, and two straight drought years have bitten hard. 

"The issue isn't only nature — it's how we manage demand. We need to define real needs, fix the leaks, and add desalination where summer peaks hit hardest," he tells us.

The government promises a national water plan, with fairer pricing, faster emergency response and new tech such as desalination and recycling. But on Aegina, residents insist none of that matters if the island's fragile network keeps failing. 

Bleak picture

"Our network is old and breaks often. In summer our population multiplies. If the pipeline fails again, tourism takes a hit," says hotel owner Stavros Kalamakis, warning that corrosion from seawater in pools damages systems. "We need backup pumping and a desalination option alongside the pipeline."

The bigger picture is bleak: hotter summers, fewer steady rains, shrinking mountain snow and drying soils across Greece. Aegina relies on a subsea pipeline from Attica — a lifeline that has snapped in recent years, leaving homes and hotels scrambling. And the timing couldn't be worse. 

"Most irrigation and tourism demand comes in just two or three months," Savatakakis notes. "That crushes natural systems. The answer is to modernize networks, cut waste, plan for peaks, and build desalination in coastal and tourist areas so a dry year doesn't turn into a crisis."

For farmers, the crisis is here. 

"My worry? One more hot, dry summer and the trees won't recover. We need support now," Emmanouil says.

From Aegina's groves to the dams that supply Greece's economic heart, the message is blunt: store more, waste less, and plan for many long, hot summers ahead.