Cyprus's 18 main reservoirs have absorbed 100 million cubic metres of new water since the hydrological year began on 1 October — the first season to cross that line in four years, and a number that came almost entirely out of two extraordinary months.
A month ago, on 7 April, total storage in Cyprus's dams crossed 100 mln. m³ for the first time since August 2024. Today, 5 May 2026, a different — and arguably more telling — line has been crossed: cumulative seasonal inflow since October has reached 100.88 mln. m³.
Storage tells you how much water is sitting in the dams right now. Seasonal inflow tells you how much new water the year actually delivered. The last time Cyprus's dams received over 100 mln. m³ in a single hydrological year was 2021/22 — four years and three drought seasons ago.
For context, the entire 2024/25 year delivered just 18.66 mln. m³. This season has already produced 5.4 times that — with May, June, and the long tail of summer still to come.
Four years of seasonal inflow, side by side
| Season | Total inflow (mln. m³) |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 153.75 |
| 2022/23 | 48.78 |
| 2023/24 | 24.71 |
| 2024/25 | 18.66 |
| 2025/26 (to date) | 100.88 |
April did most of the work
The 100 MCM line wasn't crossed gradually. Two months — March and April — delivered nearly 59 mln. m³ between them, more than half the season's total.
April 2026 alone produced 23.6 mln. m³ of inflow — the second-largest April since 1987/88, behind only the legendary April 2019 (25.3 mln. m³).
March 2026 was no slouch either: 35.4 mln. m³, the third-best March since 1988. Combined, March + April 2026 narrowly out-delivered even the spring of 2018/19 — a year still talked about as the wet benchmark of this generation.
The Greek-Cypriot outlet Offsite summarised it bluntly: "March and April: the best months for inflow into the dams in the last 40 years."
Where the water went
Nine dams are now at 100% capacity — every reservoir north of the Troodos plus all four in the Chrysochou district. Xyliatos (21.3% last year) was the first to overflow, on 23 March. Tamassos followed on 2 April. Vyzakia (2.6% last year) closed the run, filling on 27 April. Mavrokolympos, at 0% this time last year, sits at 89.9% today.
The big four reservoirs — the ones that dictate the island-wide number — have all hit new season highs:
- Kouris — 37.7% (43.4 mln. m³), with 17.0 mln. m³ pumped in from Arminou since October
- Asprokremmos — 40.1% (21.0 mln. m³), crossed 40% this week
- Kannaviou — 50.2% (8.6 mln. m³), crossed 50% today
- Evretou — 47.3% (11.3 mln. m³)
Arminou itself jumped 8.2 percentage points in 24 hours, hitting 57.4% — despite the steady transfers downstream.
A May bonus
The season hasn't quite finished writing itself. Between 2 and 4 May, parts of western Troodos picked up over 60 mm of rain in 48 hours; the Jubilee Hotel station logged 77.3 mm. May rainfall is already running at 148% of the historical average — within the first four days of the month.
What officials are saying
Chief technical engineer Marios Hadjicostis, speaking to Cyprus Mail on 4 May, called inflows "good for the season" and said reserves "remain satisfactory for this time of year," while cautioning that May is not normally a month of dramatic rises.
The bigger story is what happens after the dams stop filling. WDD director Iliana Tofa has said water cuts are a "last resort" and that summer 2026 should be manageable if the 10% conservation target holds. Behind that confidence is a lot of new infrastructure: a mobile desalination unit went live at Limassol port in early April (10,000 m³/day), bringing the island from five to eight operational desalination plants. Four more — Episkopi, Vasiliko, Mazotos, and Yermasoyeia — are scheduled through 2027 and will add a combined 95,000 m³/day. The government's target is for desalination to cover roughly 100% of public supply by early 2027, leaving dam reserves for irrigation.
A separate €230 million package, co-funded under the EU's Thaleia 2021–2027 programme, includes the Vasilikos–Nicosia transfer (a third independent water source for the capital, due late 2028), a 4-MCM recycled-water dam at Tersefanou (early 2027), and €18m for smart water management systems in Paphos and Nicosia.
Not done yet
The milestone is real, and it's worth marking. But the picture is still partial:
- Achna — 2.2%, zero inflow all season
- Kalavasos — 22.6%, being deliberately drained to feed the Southern Conveyor
- Lefkara — 18.2%, below last year
Cyprus still carries the EU's highest Water Exploitation Index (71%), and roughly 60% of dam reserves go to agriculture — much of it through the kind of traditional irrigation that an opinion piece in Cyprus Mail recently called "treating rainwater as waste rather than a resource." One excellent year does not erase four dry ones, and officials have been careful not to pretend otherwise.
Still: 100 million cubic metres of new water arrived this year. After 2024/25 delivered less than 19, that's a number worth writing down.
Author: Vladimir Bugay, Fragmata developer Data: Cyprus Water Development Department, report of 5 May 2026. Historical inflow figures from Fragmata's own dataset (1988–present). Infrastructure details via Cyprus Mail. Dam levels updated daily at fragmata.info.