Water in Greece: From strategy to implementation

Greece no longer lacks a strategy for water. What remains missing is the institutional capacity to turn that strategy consistently into measurable results.

The cabinet’s approval of a National Water Strategy and Parliament’s passage of a new legal framework complete an important part of the sector’s institutional reform. Together, the measures establish a new setting for planning and delivering water investments.

Their importance goes beyond placing the sector under one framework. Water is no longer simply an environmental issue. It concerns the country’s resilience, its economy, social cohesion and, ultimately, national security. Greece needed a common reference point and a clear strategic direction. The harder question is who will implement it, how implementation will work and how success will be measured.

The needs have already been identified, technological solutions have been developed and significant funding has been secured. The next requirement is administrative consistency and the ability to apply plans in practice. That means shifting from managing adequacy to building resilience, a challenge that also reflects how Greece plans and delivers critical public infrastructure more broadly.

Over the coming years, Greece is expected to undertake one of the largest investment programs in the history of its water sector. It will include supply-security projects, network modernization, new and upgraded wastewater treatment facilities, water reuse, digital infrastructure, leak reduction and protection of water resources. All share the goal of strengthening national water security.

The main question is no longer which projects are needed. Most of those are already known. The next reform concerns the institutions’ ability to plan, rank and deliver them continuously, effectively and measurably, despite the sector’s many participants and demanding coordination requirements.