Ankara Sees Worst Drought in 50 Years as Water Cuts Disrupt Daily Life

Turkey’s capital is grappling with its most severe drought in half a century, forcing authorities to impose recurring water cuts and leaving residents queueing at public fountains to secure basic supplies, according to local officials.

Municipal authorities say water shortages that have intensified over recent weeks are the result of an unprecedented combination of prolonged drought and rapid population growth, rejecting accusations that mismanagement is to blame. Reservoir levels supplying the capital have plunged to just 1.12%, prompting daily, hours-long interruptions in some districts under a rotating rationing system.

For many residents, the impact is immediate and visible. In several neighborhoods, people wait with plastic containers and jugs at public taps, uncertain when normal service will resume.

Mamdouh Akshay, Director General of the Ankara Water and Sewerage Administration, described 2025 as a record-breaking year for drought, saying water inflows to the city’s dams have collapsed to historic lows.

“Total inflows reached only 182 million cubic meters in 2025, compared with 400 to 600 million cubic meters in previous years,” Akshay said, adding that this marks the driest period Ankara has experienced in the past 50 years.

Beyond declining rainfall, officials point to increasingly erratic weather patterns, reduced snowfall, and the rapid conversion of rainfall into surface runoff due to urban expansion, all of which have limited the dams’ ability to replenish effectively.

The crisis has triggered a political standoff between Turkey’s central government and Ankara’s opposition-led municipality. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has publicly criticized city authorities, calling them incompetent in their handling of the water crisis.

The municipality has pushed back, arguing that the situation is driven primarily by climate change and demographic pressure, rather than administrative failure. Ankara’s population has more than doubled since the 1990s and now stands at around six million, placing growing strain on aging water infrastructure.

In an attempt to ease immediate disruptions, the Ankara municipality announced the launch of a new pumping system designed to extract water from lower reservoir levels. Officials said the measure should prevent water cuts over weekends, but warned that it offers only temporary relief.

“Without sufficient rainfall, the problem will persist,” municipal officials cautioned, stressing that longer-term solutions depend on weather conditions as well as structural investments in water management.

Ankara’s plight reflects a broader national challenge. Turkey as a whole experienced historic drought conditions in 2025, highlighting the country’s growing vulnerability to climate extremes. In Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city on the Aegean coast, authorities have enforced daily water cuts since last summer, underscoring the scale of the crisis.