The river deltas are ecologically significant areas, as they host valuable flora and fauna. However, increasing water withdrawals from the hydrological basins of rivers to meet the water needs of economic activities (agriculture, industry, etc.) inevitably lead to a reduction in the available amount of water that ends up in the deltas of the rivers, resulting in the alteration or even destruction of their ecosystems.

Considering the pressure that water bodies are under, proper management of irrigation water is deemed necessary to improve the ecological situation in the river deltas. Irrigated agriculture is the largest water consumer in our country, with significant environmental impacts.

A characteristic example is the reduction of flow at the mouth of the Axios River, which is largely caused by the use of water to meet irrigation needs. One of the crops that requires large amounts of water for its full development and maximization of its yield is rice, which in the plain of Thessaloniki is irrigated with about 2-3 thousand cubic meters of water per acre.

Taking into account that several thousand acres of rice are irrigated from the waters of the Axios River, the importance of saving irrigation water in rice cultivation and the benefits that result from securing additional quantities of water to satisfy the minimum environmental flow at the mouth of the river, especially in a protected area like the Axios Delta, becomes immediately apparent.

The Axios River is the second largest river in Greece and the second largest in the Balkans, with a length of 380 kilometers, of which 76 kilometers are within Greek territory.

It is part of the Axios Delta National Park and, along with the Kalochori lagoon, the estuaries of the rivers Gallikos, Loudias, and Aliakmonas, as well as Alyki Kitrous lagoon, forms one of the most important wetland ecosystems in Greece and Europe, protected by the Ramsar Convention for Wetlands. Additionally, the area is included in the Natura 2000 network of protected areas of the European Union.