With reservoirs at record lows and the water crisis becoming more pressing, Turkey is exploring urgent and innovative solutions to the country’s severe drought, with experts already considering cloud seeding, rainwater harvesting and seawater desalination, measures that are already being implemented in other countries in the region with similar problems.
In recent months, water levels have fallen drastically in several provinces, forcing authorities to implement scheduled water cuts. Speaking to the Turkish daily Milliyet, Professor Orhan Şen warned that cloud seeding “is not a miracle solution” but that, used correctly, “it can increase rainfall by 30%”. He explained that the process transforms cloud into rain in about 20 minutes, and its effect “lasts about an hour”.
The expert pointed out that Turkey has already reached a point of hydrological drought, with lakes and rivers becoming drier and drier. “The water in the reservoirs has been depleted: Bursa is at zero, Izmir at 2%, Istanbul at 25% and Ankara at 16%. Agricultural irrigation has been further reduced. From now on we are entering a phase of agricultural drought,” Şen warned.
Among the measures he proposed to mitigate the problem are rainwater harvesting on rooftops, avoiding leaks in distribution networks – which account for “up to 20% losses” – and replacing sprinkler or hose irrigation with more efficient drip irrigation. He also called for controlling water use in agriculture and prioritising crops that require less water resources.
Cloud seeding to increase rainfall
Şen recalled that methods such as cloud seeding, also called “cloud inoculation”, are already used in more than 50 countries, including the US, Russia, Israel, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The method involves introducing silver iodide into clouds via aircraft, drones or generators installed on mountains, which induces rain or snow and reduces hail formation. Although he stressed that this method does not alter the climate or pose any health risks, he also added that it is a temporary and not a permanent solution.
“To combat drought, you either collect rainfall or increase it. One method to increase rainfall is cloud seeding. This method can be applied in Turkey with national and domestic resources,” he said. “It is a scientific method, and some people oppose it, but it poses no health risks and does not alter the climate. It is seeded 20 minutes before the cloud reaches the dam; when that cloud reaches the dam, it increases rainfall, releases it and then disappears. Cloud seeding not only increases precipitation, but also snowfall… You can increase precipitation by 30%,” he explained.
The professor suggested adopting other complementary strategies to cope with climate change-induced drought in Turkey, such as filling swimming pools with seawater, investing in desalination plants, adopting drip irrigation-based agriculture focused on crops that use less water, and creating so-called ‘sponge cities’ by installing permeable soils and grass on roadsides, to allow rainwater to infiltrate and recharge underground aquifers.
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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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