Snowfall benefits Istanbul's dams: Significant increase in the last week
The average occupancy rate of the dams supplying water to Istanbul has risen to 72.2 percent due to the snowfall that was effective last week.
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According to data from the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration (İSKİ), dam occupancy rates, which had fallen to 27.49% in November of last year, have begun to recover with the snowfall that has been effective in recent days.
With the precipitation that increased in intensity starting from Wednesday of last week, the occupancy rate in Istanbul's dams has increased by 6.19% in the last week, reaching 72.2% as of today.
CURRENT OCCUPANCY RATES OF DAMS
The occupancy rates of the dams meeting Istanbul's water needs were measured as follows:
- Alibey: 61.5%
- Büyükçekmece: 69.41%
- Darlık: 68.58%
- Elmalı: 88.46%
- Istrancalar: 91.67%
- Kazandere: 79.13%
- Pabuçdere: 78.22%
- Sazlıdere: 54.91%
- Terkos: 74.61%
- Ömerli: 78.84%
The current amount of water in the dams and ponds in Istanbul, which have a total water storage capacity of 868 million 683 thousand cubic meters, was recorded as 627.18 million cubic meters.
SUPPORT FROM MELEN AND YEŞİLÇAY
A significant portion of Istanbul's water needs is met by the Melen and Yeşilçay regulators in addition to the dams. Since the beginning of this year, 146.11 million cubic meters of water have been provided to the city from these two sources.
Furthermore, the amount of precipitation that fell on Istanbul in 2024 was measured at 210.53 kilograms per square meter.
ISTANBUL'S DAILY WATER CONSUMPTION
Water consumption in the mega-city of Istanbul shows no signs of slowing down. Yesterday alone, 3 million 109 thousand cubic meters of water were used.
OCCUPANCY RATES OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
According to İSKİ data, the dam occupancy rates for the last 10 years as of February 25 are as follows:
- 2015: 96.41%
- 2016: 86.79%
- 2017: 87.5%
- 2018: 80.48%
- 2019: 91.5%
- 2020: 62.83%
- 2021: 54.07%
- 2022: 82.16%
- 2023: 35.23%
- 2024: 76.3%
While experts are pleased that this year's levels are better following the serious water crisis experienced in 2023, it is emphasized that citizens should still be careful about water conservation.