ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s water ministry said the country will have sufficient water for the summer, despite fears of a drought, as long as people do not waste or pollute supplies. Water is stored in reservoirs and dams, and the government is in talks with neighbouring countries over shared resources, a spokesperson for the ministry told state media. Iraq’s dams and reservoirs have plenty of water, largely because of heavy rains in 2019, and in two weeks, more water will be released and “levels will rise in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers,” spokesperson Ali Radi told the Iraqi News Agency on Friday. After a dry winter and spring, water levels are 50 percent lower compared to last year in the two rivers that are Iraq’s main source of water, according to Radi. The ministry has raised the issue with Damascus and Ankara. Iraq, Syria, and Turkey have bilateral deals on sharing water in the rivers that traverse the three countries, which are all dealing with water shortages. In northeast Syria, farmers with dry fields are calling it a “disaster” and electricity generation is down at hydropower plants. In the Kurdistan Region, shepherds are moving their flocks in search of green pastures. And in southern Iraq, farmers are giving up on their fields entirely, migrating into the cities. Diyala province is most at risk for water shortages because of low levels in Darbandikhan dam and the Sirwan River. According to Radi, farmers in the province take 80 percent of their water from the Sirwan River (known as the Diyala in Arabic), which is low after Iran built a dam and is diverting water to its own farmers. Iran too has a shortage of water this year. Wheat yields are down and farmers are praying for rain. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has written to Tehran and is awaiting a response about shared water resources, said Radi.
