ATHENS (Xinhua) – A sunken ghost village at an artificial lake on Crete Island re-emerged in recent months as a symbol of the drought nightmare Greece could face in the coming years.
By 2015, the village was entirely submerged in the water reservoir which was constructed to solve the chronic water shortages of the nearby port of Herakleion and other municipalities along the northern coasts of the popular tourism destination.
This year, as Crete had the driest winter in three decades, according to local scientists, Sfendyli has risen to surface again.
Crete Island was the most affected as a drop in rainfall by average 20-30 per cent was recorded also at other Aegean Sea islands and the central and southern mainland, according to Kostas Lagouvardos, top researcher at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development Research centre of the Athens Observatory.
This year’s numbers are equivalent to the 1989-1990 drought periods.
As the tourist season has started and the Greek tourism industry is heading towards new record arrivals of some 32 million visitors this year, according to the Greek government’s estimates, authorities are considering measures to face the challenge.
Officials like Kritsotakis appear confident that with proper management there will be no particular problems.
Islands with desalination plants are in better position than areas depending on groundwater where authorities step up efforts for water storage works and reduction of water waste.
Funds are gradually distributed also this year.
Since climate change is a common challenge for mankind, Greek officials explore common tactics, such as the water reuse for agricultural irrigation EU Commission is promoting among other measures.

Rainfall in most of the country is well below normal levels, according to Met Eireann, and Teagasc is advising farmers to manage drought conditions by holding rotation lengths.
Apart from the northwest, where rainfall was slightly above average, country rainfall figures remained well below normal with totals ranging from just 3 to 10mm, figures from Met Eireann show.
A lot of dry weather is set to develop everywhere from Wednesday out to the foreseeable future as high pressure builds.
Wednesday through to Friday will bring around average values and no more, with northerly breezes streaming down across Ireland (best values further south).
However, the trend is for warmer weather to set in as of the weekend with values climbing into the low 20s widely both Saturday and Sunday and possibly even higher into next week as it become locally very warm, that’s as southwest breezes take hold.
And, according to Teagasc, some farms are starting to experience drought conditions.
It says that grass growth rates have declined and advises farmers that it is essential to hold rotation length at 20 days e.g. if platform is 100 acres (40ha), graze 5 acres (2 ha) per day.
It also says to fill the feed gap with concentrates first (up to 6kg/cow/day) and silage thereafter and avoid running down farm cover by holding rotation length and entering the correct pre-grazing covers.

The mayor says the City of Cape Town has to learn many lessons regarding adaptation to climate change.
It will take at least three years for the City of Cape Town to deal with the impact of climate change and the current drought in the region, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said on Tuesday.
Welcoming delegates to Adaptation Futures 2018, the world’s leading conference on climate change adaptation taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) this week, the mayor said the City had to learn many lessons concerning adaptation to climate change.
“When we talk about climate change, what we have learned in the City of Cape Town is that what really matters and how you respond to climate change is the actions that you taking.
As we speak today, in 2018, we have been able to bring down that water consumption to just over 500 million litres of water a day, so the opportunity out of the drought, I believe that Cape Town will emerge as one of the most water resilient cities in the world because of how we had to adapt and how we also had to mitigate all of the challenges.” She said South Africa, in February, has launched a successful global water fund model, which seeks to introduce a public-private partnership in innovation financing to conserve watersheds and also water resources in Africa.
This fund project based here in Cape Town is on the successful global water fund model which seeks to introduce a public-private partnership in Innovation financing to conserve watersheds and also water resources in Africa,” said De Lille.
The mayor also stressed the importance of conservation programmes in job creation.
“If it was not also, for the past 17 years, we had a water conservation programme, and through the water conversation programme for the past 15 years, we created 1000 jobs, we trained plumbers and let them loose in our communities to fix leaks and repair pipes.
If we had not done that for the past 15 years, we would have actually found the drought far worse than it is now and I must also say that it was in 2015 when we received an international reward for our water conversation from the C40 cities,” said De Lille.
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Despite showers over the weekend, drought conditions are still prevalent throughout Colorado –especially in the southern part of the state.
Colorado Springs Utilities administrators say they are already seeing some of the initial effects of low precipitation levels and snowpack.
Right now, the last bit of runoff from the winter snow is melting and draining into local reservoirs.
Colorado Springs manages dozens of local bodies of water and determines the best way to handle seasons of drought.
Kalsoum Abbasi, a planning supervisor in water conveyance group at Colorado Springs Utilities, says the area had average levels of moisture and snowpack in the last few years, meaning the water storage levels are looking good, despite the drought.
Looking to some of the other bodies of water, like Rampart Reservoir west of Woodland Park, water levels are already seemingly low.
The water levels in that body of water are mostly dependent on customer demand.
A line break early in the spring left the reservoir lower than normal, and with the dry conditions over the last month and a half, more people are using water for personal use and landscaping.
Abassi says last summer, average customer demand for water was about 85-90 million gallons per day.
This year, Colorado Springs Utilities says demand is running closer to 120 million gallons per day on the hot and dry days we have seen so far.

ARTHUR, N.D. — Our recent rain storms have given some area farmers a great start to the growing season even though most of Cass County remains in abnormally dry conditions according to the state’s drought monitor.
Despite a little luck with rain, a small change could doom the crops.
The drought monitor shows upper North Dakota is going through moderate to severe drought conditions.
"Right at our own farm, it got a little dry in July and August so we lost yield to a little dryness there," said Kevin Skunes, a farmer and President of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association.
His farm in Arthur is considered abnormally dry on the drought monitor, but you wouldn’t tell by just looking at his crops.
Fields of lush green corn plants fill his acres all the way to the county road.
WDAY called Chandra Langseth with the NDSU Ag Extension and she said farmers in Richland and Cass county are having serious luck with rain so far.
For Kevin’s crops, rain amounts are treating him well after he planted in late May.
"If you could get a half to an inch of rain every week during the growing season, that would be the ultimate," Skunes said.
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As the continent feels the heat of climate change, it is time it adopts measures to better manage its water and land to build greater resilience to droughts Despite the drought-prone Near East and North Africa facing hoards of problems like water scarcity, degraded land and fragile soil, the region has not made a fundamental shift from recovering from drought to trying to be not susceptible to one.
“Climate change is expected to affect all the countries.
Evidence suggests that rainfall patterns have shifted in terms of timing, duration, and intensity – all of which pose challenges to land users, hydro-power corporations, industry, and urban centres,” says an FAO report published on Monday.
But, countries in this region are just focussing on disaster relief, which includes measures like ensuring drinking water supplies, providing subsidies for irrigation equipment and well drilling, providing feed to safeguard livestock, restructuring farmer debts, creating jobs in rural areas, and implementing public awareness campaigns.
The study says that these “well-meant” actions “can have unforeseen consequences”.
“Providing livestock feed, for example, can stop nomads from moving to places that are less stressed causing over-grazing in areas, particularly around the larger conurbations.
“Many countries see long-term development of water resources as being proactive in mitigating drought, but poor planning can actually exacerbate the impacts of drought and the missed opportunities to attenuate them,” says the UN wing.
“Current agricultural policies are leading to increasing land degradation and impoverishment and need to be re-examined in the light of drought mitigation,” the report highlights.
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SALEM, Ore. – Gov.
Kate Brown announced Monday a drought emergency for Baker and Douglas counties due to low snowpack and precipitation, low streamflows and warming temperatures as Oregon braces for the upcoming wildfire season.
As drought conditions intensify throughout the state, Douglas County becomes the first region west of the Cascades to receive a drought declaration.
Drought emergencies have already been declared in Klamath, Grant, Harney and Lake counties.
“All signs point to another record-breaking drought and wildfire season for Oregon,” Governor Kate Brown said.
“That means we must continue our urgent work to build communities that are ready for the challenges of climate change.
I have directed state agencies stand ready to help and work with local communities to provide assistance."
Oregon’s state agencies will continue to work with local governments and other partners to coordinate efforts and mobilize actions to address drought-related issues.
The Governor’s drought declaration authorizes state agencies to expedite water management tools to which users would not otherwise have access.
As state and local officials coordinate with federal partners, conditions will be closely monitored by the state’s natural resource and public safety agencies, including the Oregon Water Resources Department and the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.

Showers and thunderstorms will be numerous in coastal Texas into midweek.
This rain will improve drought conditions in eastern Texas.
Periods of heavy rainfall are likely across coastal Texas this week, and while that will be helpful for the ongoing drought, some areas could see bouts of flooding.
The soaking rainfall is fueled by an upper-level low-pressure system that will linger over eastern Texas into midweek.
That low will interact with widespread tropical moisture, leading to the development of numerous showers and thunderstorms.
Rainfall totals over the course of several days, through Wednesday or Thursday, will be impressive in eastern Texas.
Widespread rain amounts of 3 to 5 inches are expected through Wednesday near and inland from the Texas coast.
Some locations could see heavier totals of 5 to 10 inches.
However, even with drought conditions, flooding could occur in areas that see repetitive bouts of showers and thunderstorms or where a band of rain stalls for several hours.
The National Weather Service may issue flash flood watches for some locations when details become clearer.

Image SHIMLA, India — The people of Shimla haven’t agreed on much lately.
And everyone’s been angry at the key men.
But the city’s ancient pipe system also leaks five million liters of water every day, Mr. Chawdhry said in an interview in his office.
Shimla is not the only Indian city whose water supplies are under increasing pressure.
“Shimla got more media attention, but many areas are facing water scarcity.” That includes the capital, New Delhi.
“My husband and son died because of water,” Ms. Devi said.
It’s too big!” one woman yelled at another.
In Shimla, the water crisis has eased since last month.
But some of the city’s 61 other key men were held down by mobs and forced to keep the water on, municipal officials said.
The court also ordered that every key man be escorted by two police officers while on duty to ensure their safety.

What a spring this has been in Nebraska.
After the second coldest April on record dating back to 1895, May statewide temperatures are poised to rank in the top 10 warmest on record.
In addition, precipitation has been significantly below normal the past 90 days across most of east central, south central, and southeast Nebraska and concern is building for a potential worsening of drought conditions this summer.
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor is beginning to reflect the seriousness of the dry weather impacting the central Plains.
Additionally, the slow start to our warm season row crops means crop-water demand is averaging a third to half of potential evapotranspiration (ET).
They also underscore our concern for potential crop stress if this heat continues and the southern third of the state continues to miss precipitation events.
Unfortunately, each push of cool Canadian air is quickly replaced by heat surging northward from the southern Plains.
Considerable uncertainty exists for the following week as another upper air low moves across the Northern Plains and brings another brief cool down as early as June 11 and as late as June 13.
The latest two-four week forecast issued by the Climate Prediction Center on May 25 centered on the final two weeks of June, suggesting above normal temperatures for the southern two-thirds of the country, including Nebraska.
The combination of a poor snow year and above normal May temperatures led to this quick demise and may be responsible for intensifying the heat across the Southern Plains.