Some new homes may soon appear on Greece’s version of Rightmove – but they may be a bit muddled.
Record-breaking temperatures and a drought dragging on in the country have revealed a village submerged in Athens’ main reservoir.
Water levels in recent months have dropped by around 30%, according to the Greek water operator, EYDAP. The level is truly ‘apocalyptic’, as one Greek environmental group put it.
In the 1980s, the village of Kallio was ‘sacrificed’ to create a reservoir, with around 80 houses, churches and a local primary school flooded to provide a more stable water supply to the Greek capital.
But when Greece continues to fight with extraordinary heat waves caused by climate change, more and more of the submerged structures can appear above the water, acting as a bellweather for the dwindled water supply in the area.
“When the houses were first revealed, the bells lacked water,” said Apostolis Gerodimos, president of the Kallio community.
Gerodimos said the region experienced a similar drought in 1993, which was replenished in the winter when rains began to fall.
“Since 30 years ago,” he said. ‘Of course, the lake level is falling. Snow and rain in the winter, therefore increase the amount of water.
‘Now the situation is a nightmare. When the water level drops, the buildings of the submerged village will be visible. If it doesn’t rain in winter, the problem will be bigger.’
‘Every day, the water is going down,’ said Dimitris Giannopoulos, mayor of the wider municipality of Dorida, who said he had not seen anything like it in 33 years.
Giannopoulos is worried that if there is not enough rain and snow in the coming winter, the situation will worsen over time.
They dragged him to Mount Giona high above the lake, which was usually covered with snow but not last winter, the hottest in Greece. By the receding lake, the trees turned yellow.
Greece’s arid Mediterranean climate makes it particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, which has fueled summer wildfires including one that reached the outskirts of Athens last month. Scientists say extreme weather linked to climate change is now contributing to the lake’s decline.
Wells in the area are dry and the surrounding villages, which do not draw water from the lake, are experiencing shortages this summer, he said. The local fire chief said there was a risk of wildfires as the forest dried out.
The former residents of Kallio are surprised to see the village again, but saddened by its condition.
The lake’s surface area has shrunk from about 16.8 square km in August 2022 to just 12.0 square km this year, according to satellite images released by the Greek National Observatory.
Water reserves there and in three other reservoirs that supply Attica, an area that includes 5 million Athenians, have dropped to 700 million cubic meters in August, down from 1.2 billion cubic meters in 2022, the environment ministry said.
Athens’ state-run water company EYDAP has already started supplying the network with additional water sources, he said.
But in the meantime, the residents pray for the rainy season and pray for the houses to return to their places.
Contact the news team by emailing webnews@metro.co.uk.
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