Dams are dropping, aquifers are sinking, and time has run out. Crete is now living through its fourth consecutive dry hydrological year. Not a bad season. Not a temporary anomaly. A pattern.
Official data from the Directorate of Water Management show reduced rainfall, falling groundwater levels, and reservoirs edging toward critical limits. Authorities are no longer hinting. They are warning: without immediate water-saving measures and rational management, the island is heading for serious trouble.
What the numbers say (and why they matter)
Rainfall data from September 2025 to January 2026, collected from 50 monitoring stations across the island, confirm what farmers and municipalities already feel:
- Rainfall remains well below normal levels
- The previous three hydrological years were also dry
- Groundwater aquifers are steadily declining
- Reservoirs are failing to replenish
Snowfall data? Non-existent. Crete still lacks a proper snow-measurement network, meaning a crucial part of the water cycle remains unmonitored.
A dry island, region by region
- Heraklion Regional Unit:
- Recorded the highest relative rainfall, mainly due to early rains in the south. Even so, levels remain below normal.
- Lasithi Regional Unit:
- Rainfall for 2025–2026 mirrors the same low levels seen over the previous three dry years.
- Rethymno Regional Unit:
- The current hydrological year is the lowest in the entire recorded series, worse than the already-dry 2017–2018 season.
- Chania Regional Unit:
- Four consecutive years with rainfall equivalent to a declared dry year.
Eastern Crete’s hydrological stations show continuous groundwater decline over the past 4 years, with this year marking the steepest drop.
The reservoirs tell the real story.
- Bramianos Dam (Ierapetra)
- Capacity: 14.5 million m³
- January 2026: 1.75 million m³
- January 2025: 3.72 million m³
- Historic lows, despite artificial replenishment.
- Faneromeni Dam (Messara)
- Capacity: 18 million m³
- Current volume: below 3 million m³, the threshold for safe operation.
- Potamon Dam (Rethymno): Nearly full, not because of rain, but because water withdrawals for irrigation and supply have been drastically limited.
- Lake Kournas: Water levels are exceptionally low for this time of year.
What authorities say must happen now
The Directorate of Water Management outlines urgent measures:
- Permanent reduction of water losses from aging networks
- Demand and waste reduction, through constant public awareness
- Tourism sector action:
- Guest information on water saving
- Use of seawater in swimming pools to protect drinking water
- Installation of snowfall-measurement systems and expansion of meteorological stations
- Systematic monitoring of boreholes and reserves by municipalities and water utilities
- Reuse of treated wastewater, especially urban effluent, as a realistic and necessary solution
Without immediate, coordinated action, Crete risks long-term damage to water supply, agriculture, tourism, and daily life.
