River water levels decline by half in Iraq’s Anbar: official
Iraqi government forces are stationed near a dam on the Euphrates river. Archival photo.
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Water levels at the Euphrates River in Iraq’s Anbar have declined by a half due to a reduced release from Syria, an Iraqi official was quoted saying on Monday as Iraqi provinces continue to feel a growing threat of water scarcity.
Manawer Abd al-Dulaimi, head of the water resources department at the city of Fallujah, told Almaalomah website that water releases from the Syrian side have declined from 500 Sqm/hour to a half of that amount.
He said Euphrates River levels dropped by 50%, warning that the situation threatens availability of water for farmers and other citizens. Dualimi attributed the decline to high temperatures, shortage of water at reservoirs and human infringements on the river.
The official urged to rehabilitate dilapidated water facilities and to ration consumption as means to counter the problem.
Water shortages have ignited deadly protests at the recent weeks at Iraq’s southern provinces, adding pressure to the outgoing government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who declared a set of measures to offset the water shortage.
Besides Euphrates, Iraq had also detected a drop in water levels at the Tigris River in Baghdad and Mosul, which aroused fears of drought resulting from the Turkish Ilisu dam, a project which Iraq warns could affect water levels in the country.