Iraq’s Tigris and Euphrates rivers’ levels plummet in south
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Hashim Sheikh
- . February 27, 2023
- . Update: February 27, 2023 5:35 pm
According to officials, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq have seen a severe decline in water levels. They promised to take immediate action to relieve the country’s water problems.
The powerful Euphrates river bed was partially dry when an AFP photographer visited Nasiriyah, the capital of the southern province of Dhi Qar.
The condition in some southern districts was attributed by the water ministry to “the limited quantity of water reaching Iraq from neighbouring Turkiye.” In a statement, it said that “this has precipitated a severe decline in the country’s water reserves.”
Both the Tigris and the Euphrates originate in Turkiye, and Iraqi authorities have long accused the Ankara government of obstructing the rivers with dams and withholding water, drastically limiting river flows into Iraq.
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Authorities in Iraq also charge farmers with misusing water resources and breaking laws in order to irrigate their fields.
According to the UN and other non-governmental organisations, the lack of water is already one of the “primary causes of rural-to-urban migration” in Iraq and has an impact on food security and agriculture.
The Tigris River’s level entering Iraq has decreased to just 35% of its century-long normal, according to official Iraqi statistics from last year.
Iraq is only receiving 30% of the water it anticipated from the Tigris and the Euphrates, according to Khaled Chamal, a spokesman for the water ministry, on a Sunday.
Iraq frequently requests additional water from Turkiye and has implemented mechanisms to ration water for home and agricultural usage. Also, water is frequently held back in the north of Iraq’s dams, which incenses locals there.
On the country’s southern Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Chamal told AFP that the most recent drop in water levels was “temporary.”
According to him, authorities would raise levels by releasing water from Iraqi dams in Mosul, Dukan, and Darbandikhan’s northern regions. Within the next two days, he said, “there ought to be positive results.”
Iraq, which is wealthy in oil, is suffering from poverty, drought, and desertification as a result of years of conflict.
According to the United Nations, it is one of the top five nations most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The World Bank encouraged Iraqi officials to update irrigation systems, farming practices, and dam infrastructure in a letter in December.
