Western Balkans face severe drought and water restrictions during heatwave

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Western Balkans faces a severe drought after a heatwave hit the region, disrupting daily life and creating issues with agriculture and power.

Temperatures on Thursday in central Albania reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and meteorologists warned there would be scarce rain until September. Rivers are almost dry due to a lack of rainfall during winter and spring.

The soaring temperatures have pushed Albanian authorities to assist the local agriculture with irrigation networks. A project to take water from the northern Mat river to help some 4,000 hectares (9,885 acres) of agricultural land in the area was completed on Tuesday.

There also has been a negative impact on Albania’s power production, which mostly comes from hydropower stations in the country’s north. The national power corporation spent up to 60 million Euro ($70 million) to import energy in the first half of this year.

Serbia’s state meteorological institute has warned that “extreme drought” is affecting the country’s crops while water levels in rivers and lakes have dropped.

Small towns and villages throughout Serbia also face restrictions on drinking water.

In Kosovo, a water shortage closed an open-air pool in the capital of Pristina used by people to cool off in the summer heat.

The Germia swimming pool on the city’s outskirts was built in the late 1980s as a recreational destination and is considered one of the biggest on the continent. At this time last year the pool had between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors daily.

Germia Park, renowned for its natural beauty and recreation, is located among hills and mountains that provide the pool’s natural water resources. But this year, the pool’s staff could not access the 20,000 cubic meters (5.3 million gallons) of water needed.

In previous years, it has taken six days to fill the pool, but this year will take more than three weeks because of the drought, manager Bardh Krasniqi said.

“Due to the strong heatwave that is currently affecting the country and also the region, unfortunately we have not been able to open the largest pool in the country,” Krasniqi said.

As the temperature was set to reach 35 C (95 F) Thursday, the Health Institute urged people to stay away from direct sun and warned children, elderly people and anyone who was ill to stay home.

During the past week’s heatwave in Europe scorching temperatures reached as high as 46.6 C (115.9F) in Mora, Portugal. Wildfires are frequent in the region during the hot, dry summers.

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Jovana Gec in Belgrade, Serbia, and Florent Bajrami in Pristina, Kosovo, contributed.