KONYA - Water level in Konya Closed Basin (containing nearly 40 percent of Turkey's underground water potential) dropped by 22-40 meters in the past 20 years, it was reported on Wednesday.
Turkish State Waterworks Dept.(DSI) Deputy Director Mevlut Pinarkaya told A.A correspondent that uncontrolled agricultural irrigation and drought consumed water in the basin and posed a threat for the future.
Pinarkaya warned that the underground water level is rapidly dropping and therefore running a higher risk of becoming polluted.
Pinarkaya particularly underscored that level between the potable underground water reservoir and the nearby Salt Lake is now only 15 meters, and indicated that, "a flow will start from the Salt Lake towards underground water reserves if this situation continues. In that case, even if the underground water is purified, it cannot be used as potable water or in irrigation, because of salty water mixes up."