ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Yazidi grave from 1961 has resurfaced in the Tigris River as drought continues to drain Mosul Dam.
The receding water level has uncovered the grave of a Yazidi man near Khanke in Duhok province, about 26 kilometers from the city. The gravestone identifies him as Jabur Beko Ali, who died on September 16, 1961, at age 30. It also reads: “If God wills, we are Yazidi.”
Water levels at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq’s Nineveh province have dropped sharply, largely due to a dry winter and reduced releases from upstream Turkey.
The dam’s water level has fallen noticeably only three times in the past 50 years - in 2017, 2023, and again this year. In July, the receding waters also revealed a school in Khanke that had been submerged in the Tigris for more than four decades, Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
In 2023, an old Yazidi village emerged from the reduced water levels. More than 80 villages were submerged when Mosul dam was constructed on the Tigris River in 1984, 50 kilometres north of Mosul.
In June 2019, German and Kurdish archaeologists uncovered an ancient palace after water levels plummeted. The ruins were located in Kimune, where the ancient city of Zakhiku, ruled over by the Mittani Empire, is believed to have been located.
The dam can store up to 11 billion cubic meters of water that is used in agriculture and residential sectors. It also produces hydropower, generating an average of 580 megawatts of energy per day.
Construction of Mosul Dam’s main sections began January 25, 1981, and it became operational on July 24, 1986.
Iraq faces mounting water stress. The World Resources Institute lists the country among 25 nations at “extreme water stress,” meaning it uses more than 80 percent of its available water and risks shortages during short-term droughts.
The scarcity is also driving migration. In late July, Migration and Displaced Ministry spokesperson Ali Abbas told Rudaw that over 17,000 families have moved from Basra, Dhi Qar, and Maysan provinces in the past decade due to “drought, water scarcity, and desertification.”
