The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has recently signed an agreement with the government of the Republic of Turkey to provide approximately 294 million US dollars (26.826 billion yen) for the Ankara Water Supply Project.
The project will respond to the increasing demand for water in Ankara and improve the living environment for the residents through the construction of water transmission facilities sourced from the Gerede River (100km northwest of Ankara).
Due to the rise in population and expansion of economic activities, there has been a rapid increase in demand for water and water consumption has doubled in the last 10 years.
By 2030, it is expected that from the 501 billion m³ of annual rainfall in Turkey, 112 billion m³ will be used for water resources following the construction of the water supply facilities.
One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is “to halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water”, while at the 5th World Water Forum Heads of State Appeal it was announced that “water resources cannot be managed without appropriate capacity and properly designed and maintained infrastructure. Thus, investment in these areas should be given the highest priority”.