Hotels in Greece may be forced to fill their swilling pools with seawater this summer amid worsening drought conditions, a new proposed bill has warned. 

The crisis, which has affected the top tourist country for the past two years, has shown little sign of relenting and the upcoming tourist season is set to add further strain to hugely depleted resources.

The regulation’s objective is “to provide the possibility of saving water that could be used for other urban uses,” according to the proposal. 

The bill would provide for the possibility of carrying out pipeline installation projects to pump seawater into and out of the swimming pools of legally operating hotels. 

Elena Rapti, a deputy minister of tourism, said the focus, “of course, is to conserve water resources,” adding that the government plans to clear existing hurdles to allow for the switch. 

The minister spoke during a debate on a new hospitality reform bill on Monday (January 13) and her remarks were published on the Greek parliament website. 

Greece has faced acute drought conditions for the past two years, with below-average rainfall recorded for the past three years. The Aegean Islands and Crete are some of the regions that are the worst affected, where one-fifth of the average rainfall has disappeared. 

A recent study conducted by the National Observatory of Athens revealed that the average annual rainfall in the southern European country decreased by around 12% between 1971 and 2020 compared to the years from 1901 to 1970. 

Critics of the bill, however, have argued that the proposal does not set quality standards for the discharge of water back into the sea, even though saltwater pools are disinfected with chemicals. They say that chlorinated saltwater discharge could harm marine ecosystems by altering salt levels, along with the fact that chlorine is toxic to fish and other animals. 

They also stress that the legislation does not guarantee that sewage will not end up in the sea alongside the pool water, as has been an issue in the past. 

“I believe that the regulation should stipulate the mandatory dichlorination of water before its discharge into the sea,” said Elias Nokas, director of Water Resources in the South Aegean Region. 

“Also, from an aesthetic point of view, it is not nice to create water pipes on the beach,” he told eKathimerini.

Advocates for the bill argue that the incoming tourist season will put further strain on water resources, especially on islands with popular holiday destinations, including Santorini, Mykonos and Corfu. 

Nokas argued, however, that the impact that swimming pools have on water quantities has been overestimated, saying: “Even on islands with a lot of swimming pools, such as Paros and Mykonos, pools consume not more than 6% of water resources.”

In August, Euronews reported that Lake Picrolimni, a popular destination in northern Greece for tourists who wish to take mud baths, was completely dried up. 

”It hasn’t rained at all for two years, so the lake has totally dried up. It used to have a lot of water. People would come to swim,” said local municipal chairman, Costas Partsis.