Hotels on Greek islands could potentially be forced into a massive shift for their pools this coming summer, with legislation proposed to change the swimming pool water to seawater as a response to the growing impacts of climate change on the region.

New legislation is being debated in parliament concerning whether hotels in tourist destinations will have to fill their pools with seawater in response to the country’s worsening drought conditions.

Greece has been affected by acute drought conditions for the past two years, with the tourist season putting a particular strain on the water resources of the more popular holiday spots.

Elena Rapti, Deputy Minister of Tourism, revealed the government’s plans to clear the existing legal hurdles to pumping seawater into private pools which would allow for the switch.

“This (draft legislation) regulates the framework for carrying out seawater extraction and pumping it for swimming pools. The focus, of course, is to conserve water resources,” Rapti told a parliament committee on Monday.

The legislation comes off the back of pressure that was piled on the country last year to conceive of a new tourism model that would address the difficulties caused by climate change.

Greece remains an incredibly popular holiday destination with close to 33 million people visiting last year, generating roughly 28.5 billion euros in revenue.

There has been anger over “overtourism” that has even led to protests in recent years on the beaches of the Cyclades.

“People in Greece are getting more concerned that the (Cycladic islands) are changing very rapidly and, in a few years, what is special is going to be lost,” Dimitris Vayanos, an economist at the London School of Economics told The Independent.