Drought in Greece reveals flooded settlement

Extreme heat in Greece has caused a drought, with water levels in Athens' main reservoir, the artificial Lake Mornos, falling significantly.

The receding waters revealed a village where 80 houses were located before the flooding about half a century ago. How reports Popular Science, the village of Kallio appeared on the surface.

This settlement, located on the site of an artificial lake into which the rivers Mornos and Evinos flow, was “sacrificed” about fifty years ago, in the late 1970s, to provide the Greek capital with water. Giorgos Iosifidis, 67, tells AFT:

“The level of Lake Mornos has dropped by 40 meters. You can see the first floor that remains of my father-in-law's two-story house. Next to it is the former house of my cousins.”

Many years ago, a man lived in this village, but the residents were forced to leave their homes. Iosifidis says that After being flooded, the ruins of the village had already appeared above water in the 1990s, during a similar drought.

Greeks are no strangers to heat, of course. But the country's temperatures are setting new records. According to the National Observatory, 2024 was the hottest summer in Greece on record and the mildest winter.

The problem has worsened low precipitation in the area. Authorities have urged the roughly 3.7 million residents of the Attica region surrounding Athens to conserve water. In addition, ΕΥΔΑΠ used other reservoirs near Athens.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece must improve water management as he discussed reconstruction work following last year's devastating floods in neighbouring Thessaly. In September 2023, Storm Daniel dumped about a year's worth of rain in just a few hours in some areas. The prime minister said:

“We cannot afford to waste water… at a time when we know for sure that we will have less water, we must protect water resources more methodically than we have done so far.”

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