Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Yumaklı: Turkey will lose 25 percent of its water resources

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı visited the construction site of the Koçhisar Dam 2nd Stage Drinking Water Treatment Plant and storage transmission lines in Çorum. Minister Yumaklı, who inspected the facility, received information from officials regarding the work. Making a statement after his inspections, Minister Yumaklı drew attention to the importance of the facility being built for Çorum.

Touching upon investments related to water, Yumaklı said, "Every issue is extremely important for food supply security, but water, which will emerge as a strategic issue for us in the coming period, is just as important. Investments are being made and will continue to be made not only for agricultural production or industrial production, but also to ensure that our citizens living in our cities have access to healthy drinking water.

Because in the period ahead, along with climate change, water and everything related to water will become much more important. In fact, this importance will continue to multiply," he said.

"IT IS PROJECTED THAT TURKEY WILL LOSE 25 PERCENT OF ITS WATER RESOURCES BY 2100"

Providing information about the investments made in the field of water over 23 years, Yumaklı said, "In the last 23 years, during the AK Party governments, many investments have been made that direct the flow of water. Over 10 thousand water and irrigation facilities and similar structures have been put into the service of citizens with a cost of approximately 3.5 trillion. We have seen every drop of water as a wisdom that saves and a legacy left to future generations. With this vision, for this purpose, and with this goal, we have continued to work. For food security, to ensure that agricultural production can continue in our Turkey, we have opened 72 million decares of land to irrigation. We have made our investments with 75 dams and ponds, 3.4 billion cubic meters of additional water storage facilities, 102 treatment plants, and a piping system of 115 thousand kilometers, a piping system that could circle the world three times. All units of our ministry, especially the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), are working day and night to plan our water until 2100. Just as we experience the effects of climate change in every field, we are also experiencing it in water and everything related to water. When we consider these simulations, it is projected that Turkey will lose 25 percent of its water resources by 2100. If the measures we have currently taken fail by 2030, it is highly likely that we will transition from a country under water stress to a water-poor country. Therefore, with the water efficiency mobilization that we have announced nationally and which is under the auspices of First Lady Emine Erdoğan, we want to show its implementation with great success both in our country and to the whole world, just as we did with zero waste. This is both vital for our country and we want to be an example to the whole world in this sense. We held the fourth meeting of the National Water Board on Monday. Here, we took six important decisions regarding the vitality of water that I mentioned. We have shared this with our public," he said.

"DO NOT MANAGE PERCEPTION, MANAGE YOUR WATER"

Calling on local governments, Minister Yumaklı said, "I want to make a call to all local governments and our municipalities from here. Dear administrators, we cannot ignore this, we cannot disregard this, we cannot see this as unimportant. If the issues we have mentioned are not fulfilled until the last moment, it is inevitable that problems will be experienced. Therefore, my request to you is not to leave this only to the professionals working with you, please follow it yourself personally. Believe me, this is much, much more important and vital than the other issues you are engaged in. Again, treating wastewater and using it within cities, in parks and gardens, or using it in agricultural production on a larger scale, and managing urban zoning applications according to water availability, as I said a moment ago, are extremely vital. I do not want to enter into any polemics. As the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, I am saying this as someone who follows all applications and all investments within the scope of duty and activity of our General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works one-on-one. We are fulfilling our duties and responsibilities regarding the storage and supply of water in our country to the letter and to the end, regardless of the subject. Therefore, my advice to those concerned from here is; do not manage perception, manage your water. This is an extremely important issue for the citizens you represent and are obliged to serve. I would like to state here that if there is an investment above the scale of our municipalities, we are ready to invest to meet their needs by making a contract with the State Hydraulic Works, as has been done until now," he said.

Providing information about the water investments made in Çorum in 23 years, Minister Yumaklı said, "There is a facility investment of 35 billion liras. There are 135 facilities in Çorum. Today, we are on the eve of bringing a new facility investment to Çorum. We closely inspected the 2nd Stage Drinking Water Treatment Plant and transmission line to reservoirs of the Çorum Koçhisar Dam. The completion rate of the project has exceeded half. This is a pleasing matter. Hopefully, we will have put this investment into the service of our fellow citizens in Çorum before the end of 2026. The cost is approximately 1.2 billion liras. Çorum's annual need is 21 million cubic meters of water. With this facility, a total of 29 million cubic meters of water will come from the Koçhisar, Hatap, and Yeni Hayat dams and will be transferred to this treatment plant, along with the previously built treatment plant right next to it. Thus, the long-term water problem will also be solved. It is an important investment to avoid problems. Of course, what we have done in Çorum is not limited to this investment. There are currently 97 jobs in our investment program with a cost of 13 billion liras. An allocation of 2.5 billion liras was set aside this year. Therefore, we continue to use this allocation to complete these investments quickly. The completion of the Çorum Obruk Dutludere irrigation, which costs 1.8 billion liras, is 30 percent finished. It will irrigate an area of 5,500 hectares. Our entire goal is to complete its construction by June 2026. Again, the Çorum Sungurlu Diği Pond, which costs 297 million liras, is 60 percent finished. This investment, which reaches a water storage volume of approximately 2 million cubic meters, will hopefully be opened for service before the end of this year," he said.

News Source: İHA