Fill rate of İstanbul dams falls below 50 percent

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The fill rate of İstanbul's dams, which rose to nearly 90 percent at the start of the year, have fallen below 50 percent following the summer, according to the İstanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ) figures.

Among the 10 dams providing water to the city, the Büyükçekmece dam has the highest fill rate with 56.58 percent, and the Pabuçdere dam has the lowest rate with 29.14 percent.

This year, the amount of precipitation falling on the dams was 639.42 kilograms per square meter said the İSKİ.

The metropolis of 15.4 million people consumes 3.2 million cubic meters of water per day.

Drinking water sanitation facilities have provided over 811 million cubic meters to the city this year.

The fill rate of the city's dams as of September 26 was 52.06 percent last year, 38.6 percent in 2020, 50.57 percent in 2019, and 55.65 percent in 2018.

Water stress in Türkiye

According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), Türkiye's water stress score was 3.32 in 2010. It was 41st among 153 countries.

By 2040, it is expected to become the 33rd country with the highest water stress.

The annual amount of usable fresh water per capita in Türkiye is 1,555 cubic meters.

The UN considers countries with lower amounts than 1,700 cubic meters water-stressed. (TY/VK)