Bulgaria committed to supplying water to Greece from the Arda River for the next five years, safeguarding agricultural production in Northern Greece, Euractiv reported.
The agreement, formalised through a joint declaration signed by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev and his Greek counterpart Georgios Gerapetritis, addresses urgent irrigation needs in the Evros border region following the expiration of a historic 60-year bilateral treaty.
The Arda River, which flows 241 kilometres through Bulgaria before traversing Greece’s fertile plains, is indispensable to the aquatic ecosystems and farming communities in Northern Greece. With the previous 1964 agreement lapsing in July 2024, Greece had urgently requested 80 million cubic metres of water to offset dwindling reserves in its sections of the Arda and Mesta rivers.
The new declaration ensures Bulgaria will regulate and deliver water via its Arda Cascade system—a network of three dams with a combined capacity exceeding 1.2 billion cubic metres—to irrigate over 817,000 hectares directly and 400,000 hectares indirectly in Evros.
The Greek government emphasised plans to modernise existing infrastructure or construct a new dam to achieve long-term water security. Until then, Bulgaria’s interim support will prevent disruptions to agriculture, which relies entirely on the river’s resources.
Under the terms of the agreement, Greece will reimburse Bulgaria for costs linked to water storage, management, and supply, though specific figures remain undisclosed. The Bulgarian Council of Ministers approved the draft declaration last week.
The Arda River ranks as Bulgaria’s third-largest by water volume, sustaining biodiversity and arable land on both sides of the border. Its regulated flow through Bulgaria’s dam cascade has long been pivotal for flood prevention and resource distribution.
