Editing Geography of Cyprus (section)

==Drainage==
In much of the island, access to a year-round supply of water is difficult.<ref name=":0" /> This is traditionally attributed to deforestation which damaged the island's drainage system through erosion,<ref name=":0" /> but Grove and Rackham question this view.<ref>A.T. Grove, Oliver Rackham, ''The Nature of Mediterranean Europe: An Ecological History'', Yale, 2001.  {{ISBN|0-300-08443-9}}.</ref> A network of winter rivers rises in the Troodos Mountains and flows out from them in all directions.<ref name=":0" /> The Yialias River and the [[Pedieos|Pedhieos River]] flow eastward across the Mesaoria into Famagusta Bay; the Serraghis River flows northwest through the [[Güzelyurt (Northern Cyprus)|Morphou]] plain.<ref name=":0" /> All of the island's rivers, however, are dry in the summer.<ref name=":0" /> An extensive system of dams and waterways has been constructed to bring water to farming areas.<ref name=":0" />

The central Mesaoria plain is the agricultural heartland of the island, but its productiveness for wheat and barley depends very much on winter rainfall; other crops are grown under irrigation.<ref name=":0" />This broad, central plain, open to the sea at either end, was once covered with rich forests. However, the timber was needed by ancient conquerors for their sailing vessels, so little evidence of the woodland remains .<ref name=":0" /> The now-divided capital of the island, [[Nicosia]], lies in the middle of this central plain.<ref name=":0" />