Experts are warning of a serious drought situation in Turkey, where the main reservoirs supplying water to the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, home to 16 million people, are at an average of just 34% of their capacity, with some of them even below 10% after a particularly dry summer that has encouraged wildfires.
According to Turkish media reports, low rainfall in recent months and record high temperatures this summer have reduced water levels in the reservoirs that supply Istanbul to critical levels. According to data provided by the Istanbul Water and Sewage Administration (İSKİ), as of 15 September 2025 the average level of the dams supplying drinking water to Istanbul was only 34%.
But these are only average figures, because the level in some of the water dams is even more critical; this is the case of the Ömerli dam – one of the most important reservoirs supplying drinking water to Istanbul – which is currently only 27% of its full capacity. In other dams such as Elmalı (55.68%), Darlık (47%) or Terkos (40%) the situation is more favourable; but the Alibey dam has only 21% of water, and the Kazandere dam is at only 8% of its capacity.
İSKİ also offers another alarming fact: the filling rate of the reservoirs that provide drinking water to Istanbul has dropped by no less than 13% in the last month alone, due to this combination of drought and high temperatures. Aerial images taken at dams such as Ömerli show how the water has receded by dozens of metres, exposing huge swathes of dry, cracked ground, while experts are already calling for measures to help save water.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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