Europe is going through another scorching summer, and many countries are at risk of running out of water. Among them is Romania. Our country uses 33.9% of its water resources, a level that places it above the 20% warning threshold.
At first glance, the situation seems under control: only 5.8% of the freshwater resources from glaciers, groundwater, rivers, and lakes are used at the level of the entire European Union, as reported by Euronews.
Unfortunately, however, the average does not reflect the entire reality. The differences between countries are significant and concerning.
One example is Cyprus, which is practically in a state of emergency regarding water resources. The country has consumed 72% of its freshwater resources, and during summer, this percentage reaches 92%, according to Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA) data.
To better understand the severity of the situation, a country enters the warning zone when it uses over 20% of its water resources.
Earlier this year, authorities asked residents to reduce their daily water consumption by 10% (equivalent to about two minutes of water use). However, the rapid population growth in Cyprus puts additional pressure on the country's water resources.
The government has tried to speed up the installation of desalination plants to meet the demand for drinking water, especially before the tourist season, and the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union, nearing the end of its term, has made managing this crisis one of its priorities.
After Cyprus, another Mediterranean country, Malta, with an annual water resource utilization rate of 33%. However, the situation worsens in summer when the water stress level reaches 67%.
A similar situation is found in other countries: the water resource exploitation level in Greece (37%), Romania (34%), Portugal (31%), Italy (27%), and Spain (26.5%) is well above the warning threshold during the summer period.
Who faces the most significant water access problems
The European Environment Agency estimates that climate change and periods of drought will intensify the "frequency, intensity, and impact" of water scarcity at least until 2030.
Another report by the agency, titled Overheated and Underprepared, shows that about one in ten European Union citizens face difficulties in accessing a sufficient amount of safe and clean water.
The issue is most severe in Cyprus (36.5%) and Greece (31.5%). Interestingly, several countries with poor water access - including Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, and Ireland - do not record particularly high levels of freshwater resource exploitation.
This suggests that difficulties in water access are caused less by resource scarcity and more by outdated infrastructure and deficiencies in water supply systems.
At the same time, although facing issues related to freshwater resource utilization, France, Portugal, and Spain seem to manage the distribution of clean and safe water more efficiently, with the proportion of people facing difficulties in all these countries below the EU average of around 9%.