Iraq’s water reserves lowest in 80 years: official

AFP | Baghdad

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Iraq’s water reserves are at their lowest in 80 years after a dry rainy season, a government official said yesterday, as its share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers shrinks.

Water is a major issue in the country of 46 million people undergoing a serious environmental crisis because of climate change, drought, rising temperatures and declining rainfall. Authorities also blame upstream dams built in neighbouring Iran and Turkey for dramatically lowering the flow of the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, which have irrigated Iraq for millennia.

“The summer season should begin with at least 18 billion cubic meters... yet we only have about 10 billion cubic meters,” water resources ministry spokesperson Khaled Shamal told AFP.

“Last year our strategic reserves were better. It was double what we have now,” Shamal said.

“We haven’t seen such a low reserve in 80 years,” he added, saying this was mostly due to the reduced flow from the two rivers. Iraq currently receives less than 40 percent of its share from the Tigris and Euphrates, according to Shamal.

Agricultural planning in Iraq always depends on water, and this year it aims to preserve “green spaces and productive areas” amounting to more than 1.5 million Iraqi dunams (375,000 hectares), said Shamal.