A single, financially and administratively independent water authority should be created to manage resources nationwide, Nicosia district local government organisation (EOA) chief Constantinos Yiorkadjis said on Saturday.

Yiorkadjis told the Cyprus News Agency that such an authority would oversee the entire water chain, from supply and sanitation to irrigation, resource management, consumer pricing and future infrastructure investment.

He said the main problem exposed by the recent bad weather was the lack of a unified network of rainwater pipes, explaining that before local government reform, each municipality had been responsible for maintaining its own network.

Yiorkadjis said repair and reinforcement works on the culvert in Digenis Akritas, between Vasilopotamos and Kotsirkas, would begin next month at a cost of €2.3 million.

A separate study into creating stormwater drains between Lakatamia and Strovolos, near the Apoel stadium, is progressing, with construction expected to start early next year.

Following the August storms, the organisation identified a series of problem areas in Engomi, prompting the EOA to update existing studies and commission a new, more comprehensive one.

Yiorkadjis said discussions are underway with all municipalities in the Nicosia district to formalise cooperation agreements covering machinery and pumping equipment during emergencies.

He added that a minimum fee of 0.05 euro per thousand has been introduced for rainwater pipes, generating some €2 million a year for maintenance and repair work.

On water sufficiency, Yiorkadjis welcomed government plans for three new desalination units but said “increasing water production alone is not enough”.

He called for a broader strategy stressing that “significant quantities of rainwater are lost to the sea or underground every year”.