The undersigned environmental organizations call for the immediate withdrawal of the Draft Law concerning the "expansion of responsibilities" of the Water Supply and Sewerage Company of the Capital (EYDAP) and the Water Supply and Sewerage Company of Thessaloniki (EYATH), the strengthening of the Waste, Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (RAAEY) and the Water Management Organization of Thessaly S.A. (ODYTH S.A.) and other similar provisions.

The regulations for water companies do not provide solutions to the real problems of water management: understaffing, underfinancing and skyrocketing energy costs for water supply, sewage and irrigation organizations, leaks, aging networks, overpumping, uncontrolled consumption and the absence of a comprehensive plan for the protection, reuse, recycling and conservation of water resources. Instead of strengthening and putting under social control the existing public and municipal bodies for the sustainable management of water resources, responsibilities, infrastructure, financial obligations and critical decisions are transferred to larger corporate and supra-local structures and to regulatory mechanisms that are literally and figuratively removed from the life and needs of local societies and nature.

In this way, the principles of proximity and subsidiarity, as well as transparency and accountability, are violated, as water-related issues will not be managed at a local (and therefore more direct) level, but with private economic criteria, transforming water from a vital common good into a commodity, with serious consequences, such as increasing costs, degrading environmental management and endangering both public health and other forms of life that depend on water.

Also particularly worrying is article 35 of the bill, which in essence provides institutional legitimacy to a completely paradoxical and undocumented project: the diversion of water from the natural rivers Krikelopotamos and Karpenisiotis, to Attica. Despite the alleged justification that this diversion is a project to address water scarcity, it is nevertheless a diversion from the institutionally binding procedure for the implementation of EU law for the correct, scientifically documented and transparent management of valuable aquatic ecosystems. The legislative pre-approval of a project that has not been justified and documented through the recently approved River Basin Management Plans is an extremely worrying development. We recall that in the past a similar logical attempt to legislatively «regulate» the diversion of the Acheloos had been attempted, but this was annulled by the courts.

We call for the cancellation of river diversion plans and the immediate start of a national water policy based on the protection and restoration of valuable aquatic ecosystems, the proper implementation of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the priority implementation of nature-based solutions throughout the country. In a time of climate crisis, the continued abuse and waste of water resources is a recipe for disaster.

The undersigned environmental organizations join our voices with all consumers, workers, farmers, municipalities, local communities and every citizen who defends water as a public good, a condition of life and a common right.

Signatures
1. ARION – Cetacean Rescue and Care Research Center
2. Action for Wildlife
3. Hellenic Society for Environment and Culture
4. Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature
5. Hellenic Ornithological Society
6. Greek Network Friends of Nature
7. Thrace Biodiversity Protection Society
8. Prespa Protection Society
9. KALLISTO, Environmental Organization for Wildlife and Nature
10. Mamagaia, Environmental Organization
11. Ecological Recycling Company
12. Citizens' Association for Streams "ROH"«
13. iSea, Environmental Organization for the Protection of Aquatic Ecosystems
14. MEDASSET – Mediterranean Association for the Salvation of Sea Turtles
15. MedINA – Mediterranean Institute for Nature and Man
16. Greenpeace Greece
17. WWF Greece