Top US official pledges to support Iraq battle water scarcity

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US ambassador to Iraq pledged to support the country in battling water scarcity and various other water-related issues in a conference held in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Saturday, state media announced.

Matthew Tueller, the US ambassador to Iraq, addressed "important challenges affecting climate change and water resources" with Iraqi officials at the Second International Water Conference in Baghdad, as climate change worsens the availability of water in Iraq.  

According to Tueller, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources signed a memorandum of understanding to "support the Iraqi government in water resource operations," and reaffirmed US support to tackle water shortage in Iraq.

Water stress is a severe issue in Iraq. The country is the fifth-most vulnerable nation to the effects of climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the United Nations (UN), yet it is lagging behind its neighbors when it comes to a plan to protect its water resources.

The World Bank warned in October that Iraq is running out of water with devastating consequences on its economy, stressing the failure to manage water resources as a key damaging factor. 

The US ambassador also met with Mahdi Rashid al-Hamdani, the Minister of Water Resources, and further expressed his support and commitment to relax the country's water stability.

Iran and Turkey's damming of rivers that flow downstream to Iraq have drastically reduced the latter's water supply. Tehran is building a network of dams and canals and Ankara has constructed a mega-dam on the Tigris River, submerging the ancient city of Hasankeyf under water.  

Hamdani has previously accused Iran of digging tunnels and trying to alter the natural water flows. In December, his ministry announced the completion of procedures to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice against Iran, claiming that unless urgent action is taken to combat declining water levels and climate change, Iraq's two main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, will be completely dry by 2040.  

While Iraq and Syria have signed up to the UN Watercourses Convention of 1997, Turkey and Iran have not.  

Last year, low rainfall levels and high temperatures caused by climate change depleted water supplies across Iraq. Much of the country's agricultural lands depend on irrigation, and dams and reservoirs were at record-low levels in the summer of 2021. 

Iraqi President Barham Salih in November virtually addressed the United Nations Twenty-Sixth Global Climate Summit and said that "desertification affects 39% of our country and 54% of our agricultural lands are degraded because of salinization caused by reducing water flow of the Tigris and Euphrates. Seven million Iraqis have already been affected by drought, climate change and the risk of displacement."