The state cannot determine how much groundwater is actually pumped, according to research published on Friday by the investigative reporting network (Ciren).

The research, drawing on data from the water development department (WDD) and findings from the audit office, found that 76 per-cent of irrigation supply came from private boreholes.

Of Cyprus’s 22 groundwater bodies, 14 remained in poor condition, down from 16 in a 2016 assessment, with nitrate pollution and seawater intruding having a negative effect on several aquifers.

The WDD reported some 137,548 licensed boreholes in Cyprus, with 98,720 having been licensed before 2010, when district authorities handled the process.

Speaking to Ciren, former Ecologist’s MP Charalambos Theopemptou informed that many older boreholes remain absent from the database, limiting the department’s ability to maintain a comprehensive picture of boreholes in any given area.

More recent records show 46,353 abstraction points held approved annual pumping limits as of 31 March 2026, amounting to approximately 149.4 million cubic metres a year.

The audit office found that inadequate monitoring means the volume actually extracted from Cyprus’s groundwater bodies each year cannot be accurately calculated.

The data show a concentration of pumping rights, for around 66 per-cent of abstraction points are authorised to pump no more than 500 cubic metres annually, accounting for just 4.4 per cent of the total authorised volume.

By contrast, 1.4 per cent of points, those authorised to pump 30,000 cubic metres or more, account for nearly 68 per-cent of all authorised abstraction.

A case in the village of Monagroulli, in Limassol district, found two companies pumped more water than permitted from five licensed boreholes from 2015 onward, reducing yields in neighbouring wells.

One company was fined €400 in 2021 and €2,000 in 2023, despite auditors finding pumping had at times reached up to twenty-six times the permitted limit.

The WDD said it added 54 staff to address such shortages.

A bill now before parliament proposes a twelve-year review cycle for permits as well as a new abstraction register.

This follows infringement proceedings opened by the European Commission in November 2024 over Cyprus’s failure to require periodic review of water permits.