Kurdistan
The Lesser Zab river in Sulaimani's Pishdar District as seen on March 26, 2021. Photo: Khazan Jangiz/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region is in the midst of a water crisis due to a lack of rain, government funds, and the dams being built in neighbouring Iran, officials have told Rudaw.
“There’s a water crisis. This year there’s a drought, it’s very clear. The government should have its own plan,” Akram Ahmed, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Dam Directorate told Rudaw’s Ranj Sangawi on Tuesday.
“The government has five years to take action," he added, saying it takes five years to build the largest dams needed in the Region.
Ahmed previously warned of a potential water crisis after Iran inaugurated a number of important water projects in 2020.
Hussein Hamakarim, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources told Rudaw’s Snwr Majid on Tuesday that this is the third drought the Kurdistan Region has faced in 20 years.
A meeting will be held next week on the current drought and the data needed for a “comprehensive report” to be sent to the council of ministers on the issue.
Iraq is the world's fifth-most vulnerable nation to the effects of climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the UN.
Farmers in Garmiyan have abandoned their traditional farming areas amid a lack of rain, seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
Faisal Nuri, director of Duhok dam said that water levels have decreased 8 meters this year, with the director of Darbandikhan dam Rahman Khani saying water flow has also decreased at the site.
Kochar Jamal, director of Dukan dam says water levels have decreased by 14 meters, “mostly due to the lack of rain … another reason is the dams that Iran has built.”
Tehran is building a network of dams and canals and Ankara has constructed a mega-dam on the Tigris River at the cost of the ancient city of Hasankeyf that is now under water. The governments in Erbil and Baghdad are not addressing the issue with the seriousness that the threat demands.
Kurdish farmers have previously warned of “catastrophe” as Iran blocks the water supply into the Region.
Turkey and Iran last month said they would cooperate with Iraq on water availability issues, despite being widely accused of hoarding the essential resource during Iraq’s first international water conference on March 13.
The water crisis in the Kurdistan Region is also blamed on poor water management and a lack of funds.
“After the [1991] uprising, we built small and medium sized reservoirs. Now 17 are works in progress, but have unfortunately put on hold because we are waiting for funds,” Ahmed said on March 13, adding that four of them are dams.
“There isn’t a good water management in the Kurdistan Region, that’s one problem. Another problem is there is not enough budget funds in the Kurdistan Region,” Mohammed Amin Faris, deputy director of the Iraqi parliament’s agriculture and water resources committee told Sangawi.
“We can’t just focus on building surface dams. We have to also focus on building new technology; we have to think about building sub-surface dams, building dams underground," Jihan Mohammad, head of the Department of Water Resources at Salahuddin University said.
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