Water Resources Development

Abstract

The annual technical and economical exploitable water potential of Turkey is calculated as 112 billion m³ and 18 billion m³ of this amount belongs to groundwater. Annual freshwater consumption is about 54 billion m³, of which 74% is used for agriculture, 13% for domestic uses, and 13% for industrial uses. This sum corresponds to the development of only 48.2% of the available exploitable potential. Turkey has made great efforts to develop water resources for irrigation, power generation, flood control, and other purposes during the Republic era. The creation of dams and reservoirs has enabled Turkey to save the water from its brief seasons of rainfall to be used throughout the year. Construction of major projects are ongoing to utilize the available water potential of Turkey. On the other hand, taking into consideration Turkey’s population of 80 million, the quantity of water per capita is 1400 m³, which is only about one fifth of that of the countries in North America and Western Europe. According to water scarcity studies, Turkey will be facing a scarcity threat in near future. Turkey, like many countries, faces challenges in efficiently developing and managing its limited water resources while maintaining water quality and protecting the environment.