OCTAVIA NASR, CNN ANCHOR: Finding enough water to meet all of it's needs has long been a struggle for the island of Cyprus. Water must often be rationed during summer, just as the island's population swells with arriving tourists. Officials have looked at many different ways of increasing water supplies. CYBC reports on how they hope to solve the problem.</s>COSTAS YENNANS, CYBC (voice-over): Cyprus may be surrounded by wonderful clear blue seas, making the island an ideal summer vacation option. But this does not help much in terms of water supply needs. The population would be tripled over the next few months, as more than three million tourists, mostly from European countries, come to the island to spend a summer vacation. Little do these people know about the water shortage that is permanent part of the summer scene on the island. Extensive dry periods have drastically limited the island's given water natural sources and deposits in the network of dams. Limitations to the use of water have not helped much, and the government has been forced to look at alternative water supply resources. The most easily available one is, of course, water desalination. It has been estimated that with three to four desalination stations, the acute water problem would be satisfactorily alleviated. Unfortunately, however, the project did not go down with the people very well. There were very strong reactions by communities on whose grounds these stations would have been erected, protesting against what they see as ecological threat. Even the idea of mobile desalination stations was promptly rejected, creating a desperate situation, especially for the minister responsible for
Cypriot Officials Struggle to Boost Water Supply