Even though plans for the immediate launch of investments that will relieve the country from the acute problem of drought have already been put on the table, both by the government and the competent ministries, as well as by EYDAP. Also, as the competent officials reassure, Attica is not going to… run out of water in the foreseeable period, as there are alternative plans “in the drawer”.

Nevertheless, the developments with water reserves which continue to be at rock-bottom and the image from the reservoirs where recently submerged villages are now… emerging, such as Kallio in Mornos, cause intense concern.

The preparation
This situation is also reflected in the preparations being made at institutional and administrative level.

A recent decision of the Regulatory Authority of Waste, Energy and Waters (RAAEY) regarding the need for supporting the Authority on drought issues, comes to also ring the alarm bell.

Specifically, RAAEY in its regular meeting on October 30 approved the realization of expenditure “regarding support of the Authority in evaluating the request to declare the area under jurisdiction of EYDAP S.A. in a state of emergency due to drought”.

In this direction, it was taken into account that according to the new legislative framework voted in summer, an area is declared in a drought emergency status by decision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, issued following the consent of the Regulatory Authority of Waste, Energy and Waters.

As mentioned in the relevant decision, on October 24 a document arrived at RAAEY from the Ministry of Environment and Energy “regarding the forwarding of EYDAP S.A.’s request for declaring a state of civil protection emergency due to drought”.

This was followed by a request from the Water Sector of RAAEY “for the immediate and urgent need of drafting a technical opinion to support the Authority when evaluating the request of declaring Attica, under the responsibility of EYDAP S.A., in a state of emergency due to drought”.

Within this framework, an expenditure of €30,000 (€37,200 with VAT) was approved for the necessary technical support of the Authority.

The “mobilization” of NTUA
As emerges from the relevant decisions of RAAEY, developments on this matter moved at high speed. Thus, on October 31, 2025, i.e. the next day, RAAEY sent an invitation for submission of offer to the National Technical University of Athens (“Special Account for Research Funds N.T.U.A.”).

In the first days of November, the offer was submitted by the “Special Account for Research Funds NTUA”, for an amount of €25,000. On November 3, a relevant recommendation was made by the Directorate of Vice President of the Thematic Water Sector for acceptance of the offer and direct assignment to NTUA (“Special Account for Research Funds NTUA”), for the amount of €25,000 + 24% VAT (€31,000 total).

On November 6 the Regulatory Authority of Waste, Energy and Waters, during its regular session, decided the direct assignment on the subject “Support of the Authority in evaluating the request of declaring the area of responsibility of EYDAP S.A. in a state of emergency due to drought” to the “Special Account for Research Funds NTUA”, with a total amount of €25,000 plus the corresponding VAT.

As clarified, on this amount every withholding tax and other deductions exist according to applicable legislation.

It was also decided to sign the relevant agreement, while the monitoring and receipt of the contract object will be done with certification by the Directorate of Vice President of the Thematic Water Sector.

It should be noted that ELKE NTUA (Special Account for Research Funds NTUA) has recently undertaken from RAAEY also a study on “the evaluation of water losses in water supply systems and the optimization of water supply services under Regulatory Pricing Framework”.

And legal… warm-up
In the same meeting, on November 6, the Plenary of RAAEY decided the direct assignment on the subject “Legal opinion for the legal documentation of declaring Attica in a state of emergency and immediate delivery time of it” to the “Law Firm Flogaitis-Siouti and Associates”, for a total price of €18,000 plus the corresponding VAT.

All this of course points to a necessary preparation, but in any case, they do not constitute… good news.