İSKİ's 'water plan' for the European Side has been revealed: It will be integrated into the Istranca system

According to İSKİ data, the dam occupancy rate in Istanbul over the last 14 days was announced as 16.18 percent.

Speaking to Fatma Aksu from Hürriyet, İSKİ General Manager Şafak Başa shared their plans regarding Istanbul's water problem. 

Stating that water is currently being transported to the European Side from the Asian Side in Istanbul, Başa explained the "master plan." According to the Master Plan, the Mutlu Dere (Mutlu Creek), also known as the Rezve Creek, will be utilized.

"IT WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE ISTRANCA SYSTEM"

Stating that they have proposed the Mutlu Creek, which forms the Bulgaria-Turkey border, as a water source while taking into account the population growth in Istanbul until 2053, Şafak Başa said the following:

“Two-thirds of Istanbul's population is on the European side, while only one-third of its water resources are there. We have been experiencing an extraordinarily dry period on the European side for 2 years, and the levels of our dams are quite low. To eliminate this deficit, we transfer the water we receive from Melen from Asia to the European side every day. The European side consumes approximately 2 million cubic meters of water per day. We transfer 1.4 million of this from Asia. Mutlu Creek is on the Bulgarian border, but 20 percent of its basin is in Bulgaria and 80 percent is on the Turkish side. It flows into the Black Sea from the Beğendik village of Kırklareli and is water that no one is currently utilizing. What will be done is to take the water from a point very close to the sea and integrate it into the Istranca system.

With the project, the water to be taken from Mutlu Creek will be transported for a total of 90 kilometers, 15 kilometers of which will be a tunnel.

"A NEW DAM WILL BE BUILT"

Our master plan also includes the construction of the Karacaköy Dam. Since the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) is the authorized body in this regard, İSKİ has made an application regarding the water allocation authority and joint work with the DSİ. They requested some additional reports. We have sent those to the DSİ as well. It was attempted years ago, and even tendered. However, it was later canceled when the drought threat disappeared. Our idea is that it seems possible to bring the water to support Terkos via an underground tunnel that will be opened without harming nature. The project is currently at the feasibility stage.”

News Source: 12punto