Water reserve in Iraq is at stake
The Tigris river in Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources warned on Saturday that the country’s water reserve is ‘at stake,’ the state news agency (INA) reported.
The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources indicated that Iraq lost 70 percent of its water shares because of the policies of neighboring countries.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Khaled Shamal, mentioned in a statement that the decrease in the levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in any governorate in Iraq is a measure of the ministry.
“Water storage has now reached critical stages, and the ministry cannot pump large amounts of water into the rivers,” Shamal stated.
Shamal explained that the ministry pumps water to provide water for irrigation and to cover the needs of drinking water, pointing out that Iraq receives only 30 percent of its water share.
Shamal also clarified that the previous governments did not conclude any agreement obliging Turkey and Iran to secure Iraq’s water shares, especially that 70 percent of Iraq’s water comes from neighboring countries.
Shamal elaborated that water scarcity as a result of the lack of rains over the past three years led to a significant depletion of Iraq’s water reserves.
The ministry’s spokesperson explained that Iraq’s water reserve is less than eight billion cubic meters since the current Minister of Water Resources took office.
Shamal clarified that the ministry is preserving that quantity, noting that between 200-250 cubic meters of water per second reaches Iraq when Turkey releases water from the dams it built, according to INA.
Since 2003, Iraq has been suffering from a decline in the water level across the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as a result of the water policies adopted by Turkey and Iran, where they reduce water releases, change the paths of tributaries and build giant dams on the rivers.