The Paralimni-Derynia Municipality has pushed back against criticism over the management of Lake Paralimni, insisting that controlled water removal is carried out exclusively by state authorities on the basis of real data — not, as the Municipality put it, misinformation.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Municipality said drainage operations are conducted by the Environment Service in cooperation with the Game and Fauna Service, the Water Development Department, and the Geological Survey Department, at the Municipality’s own request.
Lake Paralimni is the largest inland natural lake in Cyprus and was designated a Natura 2000 site in 2009. It has been identified as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, with at least 186 species recorded there, including Greater Flamingos, Spur-winged Lapwings, and Kentish Plovers.
The Municipality traced the lake’s water infrastructure back to 1962, when studies and construction began on an 11-kilometre open canal with around 40 dams and a sluice gate — a project completed in 1966 to recharge the aquifer, support irrigation, and combat the malaria and mosquito infestations that had long plagued the area.
It warned that prolonged standing water now poses serious risks: rising salinity, aquifer degradation, water rendered unfit for use, and public health hazards from stagnant water and increased mosquito populations across Paralimni, Derynia, and Sotira. Water outflows are managed with daily measurements and on-site checks by state services, the Municipality said, to maintain required levels and protect the breeding of birds remaining in the area.
The Municipality also rejected suggestions that it has been indifferent to the wetland. It said it built a bird observatory, organised photography exhibitions in partnership with Lake Photography, and invited the Environment Department to a joint inauguration. It has long been calling for a comprehensive redevelopment study, it added, and is demanding that the state proceed with expropriations to allow management works to go ahead lawfully.
The lake is designated both a Special Conservation Zone and a Special Protection Zone, the Municipality noted, but sits entirely on private land — the reason, it said, it has been pressing the state for expropriations for years. It is currently in ongoing meetings with the Environment Department to advance a holistic redevelopment plan.
The Municipality called for a balance between environmental protection, public health, rational water management, and respect for private property.
Read more:
