A First in Muğla: International Low-water Landscaping Workshop

13 Jan A First in Muğla: International Low-water Landscaping Workshop

“The International Low-water Landscaping in Adaptation to Climate Change Workshop”, organized by Muğla Metropolitan Municipality MUSKİ (Water and Canalization Administration) Directorate General, has started.

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality continues to carry out important practices in order to use water efficiently and effectively due to the decrease in sources of drinking water.

“The International Low-water Landscaping in Adaptation to Climate Change Workshop”, which was held at the Türkan Saylan Contemporary Life Centre with the participation of experts in the field for landscaping works to be performed without water, started with the speech of the Mayor of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Ahmet Aras.

Meral Oğuz Bol: “This workshop, which is the first of its kind, is a study aiming to raise awareness”

Meral Oğuz Bol, President of Muğla Association of Freelance Architects, commented: “Today, we are excited to hold a workshop that is of great importance not only for the future of Muğla but also for the future of our country and the world. This international workshop aims to be both an awareness-raising movement and a sustainable platform where solution-oriented steps will be taken. Muğla is one of the most important tourism destinations with different summer and winter populations, as well as rapid construction and high real estate values. Our objective is to be a pioneer in landscaping across the country and make it widespread. Low-water landscaping protects the ecosystem and creates sustainable green areas. In regions where drought is increasing, low-water landscaping is an indispensable example. Being the first of its kind, this workshop intends to raise awareness. Our goal is to make this event traditional and expand it every year and to take bigger steps by cooperating with all associations of freelance architects under the roof of our federation. The goal is not only to create an environment where ideas are discussed, but also a platform where applications and projects are shaped.”

Yılmaz Şengül: “Muğla is an Area of Exceptional Drought”

MUSKI Director General Yılmaz Şengül stated that as MUSKI, they consider their investment programs within the scope of effective combat against climate change and said, “In 2024, we have reached the 1.5°C limit compared to the pre-industrial level determined by the Paris Climate Agreement. As our President has announced in recent months, Muğla is an extraordinary drought zone. Today’s world is experiencing the consequences of the climate crisis in multiple dimensions. This multidimensional vulnerability makes it necessary for specialties to collaborate in cooperation. In Muğla, under the leadership of our President, we contribute to this cooperation and the construction of a common mind. As MUSKI, we consider our investment programs within the scope of effective combat against climate change. Access to water is first and foremost a right. In addition to problems such as diminishing resources and drought, access to clean water is one of the problems that await us. In this context, it is our duty to examine every issue on site with expert teams under the guidance of scientific data.”

Yılmaz Şengül added: “We have eliminated water cuts in Menteşe and Ortaca.”

“I would like to share a few practices that we have implemented upon the instruction of our President for the goal of World City Muğla. In the first place, we increased our budget by 70 percent, thus doubling our investment budget. We eliminated water cuts in Menteşe and Ortaca and reduced its frequency in Bodrum by 70 percent compared to last year. Furthermore, our line replacements and hydraulic arrangements continue in Bodrum also this year. We have managed to decrease our average response time to breakdowns from 1.5 hours to 45 minutes. With the Bozburun Peninsula Drinking Water Project, we provided access to water to six neighbourhoods on the peninsula. In line with the principle of sustainability, we commissioned a solar power plant with an installed capacity of 5 megawatts in Denizova. Thus, we have prevented 9,500 kg of carbon emissions from 9,500 families in just seven months. We have generated approximately 20 million TL of electricity. We will keep working to improve and develop practices in 2025 and beyond.”

Abdoulaye Sene: “We Must Increase National and International Cooperation to Ensure Water Security”

Abdoulaye Sene, President of the World Water Forum, said: “It is very important to produce regional solutions as well as international solutions to prevent the water crisis. The climate crisis affects water and the factors around water. Therefore, it is critical to ensure the water cycle on a global scale. We need to increase national and international cooperation to ensure water security. If we want to succeed, we need to work together with active planning. This is the only way we can ensure water security and water resilience.”

Mayor Aras: “If Nature Exists, We Exist. And If Nature Does Not Exist, We Do Not Exist.”

Noting that Muğla is among the areas most affected by the water crisis, Ahmet Aras, President of the Union of Coastal Aegean Municipalities and Mayor of Muğla Metropolitan Municipality, said: “When our Association of Free Architects came to visit us, the first problem we addressed was the water crisis. We heard that they had projects and we decided to work together. We are one of the areas most affected by the water crisis. We live in a zone of unpredictable climate change. We cannot reduce the global dimensions of climate change, but we can create significant impacts with the steps we take. There are huge threats ahead of us. The water crisis is actually a purely political and global issue. As a country, we have even signed the Paris Climate Agreement very recently. It is not rational to deny the climate crisis. Especially in our short lives, we have seen what the negativities brought about by industry have done to the seas, the atmosphere and the land. All our natural resources have been damaged. Human beings see themselves as the owners of the world. This is a wrong approach. We are part of nature. First of all, we need to change our perspective. If there is nature, we exist and if there is no nature, we don’t exist.”

Mayor Aras: “This Meeting is a First in Muğla”

Stating that they have to find more environment-friendly solutions, Mayor Aras said, “This meeting is a first in Muğla. As MUSKİ and Metropolitan, we will discuss more issues that are important. The drought in Muğla was determined as the driest city last year. We have serious problems in water supply. It does not only depend on water resources, but the lines we use to convey water also have a significant impact. The loss and leakage rate in Muğla is over 50 percent. Half of the water we find is actually lost on the way. We cannot deliver water in a healthy way. We are also continuing to work on this. Our groundwater has decreased by 20 percent. When we constantly use groundwater, the salinization rate increases and groundwater is destroyed. We need to introduce desalination from the sea. Some of the facilities on the coasts use desalination from the sea. Our ministry has not put forward any legislation on this. This leads to destruction due to uncontrolled use. Of course, all methods have negative consequences. Science should guide us, as ‘this is the least harmful way’. Local governments will try to find the shortest solution due to the urgent need. If a correct road map is put forward, we will follow it. We have to initiate the fight against seepage loss. Our area is experiencing a huge migration, as well. Rapid construction requires landscaping areas, and ultimately, irrigation of these areas will cause a high amount of serious water loss.”

Mayor Aras: “Water issue is not a challenge that only local governments can deal with, we have to work together”

Emphasizing that the climate crisis is not an issue that only local governments can deal with, Mayor Aras said, “We have to use more natural landscape plants. The climate crisis is not an issue that only local governments can deal with. We have to work together. The water problem is also a geopolitical issue. It is theorised that we will face water wars. Water is one of our basic resources. We know that sewage and wastewater recycling is an important point. Despite the investments made, we are not at the point we aim for. We have a 62.5 million loan that is currently under the approval of our presidency. This is all about preventing seepage loss. We are planning investments with foreign loans and İlbank. One of the reasons for the lack of water is that 10 million tourists come to Muğla, which has a population of 1 million. We have to create 10 million water resources.”