Athens Faces Water Crisis as Lake Mornos Levels Drop, Uncovering Sunken Village

The water levels of Lake Mornos, which supplies Athens’ water, has noticeably receded. Over the past two years, it has dropped by more than 35 meters, with approximately 18 of those meters lost just in the past year, as local residents note.

In the village of Kallio of Phocis in central Greece, inhabitants observe the lake shrinking rapidly day by day. Meanwhile, the buildings of the village, which were submerged when the lake was created, are gradually being revealed.

Back in 1980, when the artificial Lake Mornos was completed in order to ‘quench the thirst’ of the capital of the country, the people living there were forced to relocate to a new settlement at an elevation of 390 meters. However, most of them moved to Athens and other cities across the country.

Today, around 60 people remain in the new settlement of Kallio, where they watch as the waters of the lake slowly uncover their childhood memories, possessions, and all that they had abandoned.

The 80 houses in the submerged village, along with their church and primary school, were “sacrificed” to provide water for Athens.

While this project addressed a major issue for the capital, it has yet to deliver any benefits to the local area, according to residents. “When the first houses emerge, it signals the onset of water scarcity,” notes the president of the Kallio community.

These warning signs have long been evident, not only around the Mornos area but also across the broader region, affecting all points from which Attica draws water—whether from Mornos, Evinos, or even from central Greece’s Lake Copais (Kopais) and Lake Yliki.

As a result a major battle is underway to ensure irrigation as thousands of acres of farmland are faced with water scarcity posing a threat to farmers’ crops.

In the past, farmers had access to additional water supplies from the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company. However, this is highly unlikely now, as water levels in the reservoirs that supply Athens are steadily declining, and stored water is continuously decreasing.