Improvement in water flow to Iraq after bilateral talks with Turkey: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's Minister of Water Resources on Sunday confirmed that water flow has improved after bilateral talks with Turkey, stressing that with good resource management the country can successfully address the "critical" water issues.

“As the minister of [water] resources I met with the Turkish ambassador for an hour and a half… we said frankly that we believe you have enough storage and that Turkey can release water for Iraq securely without affecting its projects,” Aoun Diab, Iraq’s minister of water resources told Iraqi State Media in a televised interview.

According to Diab, during the visit of an Iraqi technical delegation to Ankara in June, Turkey agreed on a plan to increase the water flow to Iraq in the next month. This entailed the release of water flow from Alisu Dam on the Tigris River towards Mosul Dam, and Ataturk Dam on the Euphrates. However, Turkey was slow to abide by the plan, he added. 

“Iraq spoke frankly with Turkey about the direct cause of the lack of releases, despite the availability of sufficient quantities of water within the strategic storage, and Ankara remained slow,” Diab said adding that this prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to send a handwritten letter and a special envoy to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the matter and seek solutions.

Turkey started increasing water flow on August 11 according to the water resources minister, and that discussions continue to be overseen by Sudani. 

In March, Sudani and Erdogan met in Ankara where he sought to increase the release of water downstream to Iraq. Erdogan agreed to double the water release from the Tigris River for a period of a month. 

The water case is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion during an anticipated visit by Erdogan to Baghdad. The date of the visit has not been revealed yet.

Diab said that the water file in Iraq has become critical, however, he expressed his optimism that “with good management, it is possible to overcome the crisis with minimal damage”.

"The crisis affects Iraq from north to south, and is not limited to the cities of the center and south, as the villages of Rabia suffer from scarcity and wells dried up due to lack of rain, and their people were forced to dig about 800 meters deep to secure water," he added.

Water levels in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers - shared by Iraq, Syria, and Turkey - have dropped dramatically in recent years. In a stark warning of the threats a hotter climate poses to the country, a report by Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources towards the end of last year predicted that unless urgent action is taken to combat declining water levels, Iraq's two main rivers will be dry by 2040.

Last week Khaled al-Shamali, a spokesman from the Iraqi water resources ministry told Rudaw that the country’s water reserves have reduced to the “lowest” in the country’s history, having reduced to almost half of last year’s amount.

According to the United Nations, Iraq is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, including water and food insecurity. It is facing a severe water shortage because of reduced precipitation and higher temperatures, and waste and mismanagement. The crisis is worsened by dams upstream in Turkey and Iran that have led to a significant decrease in the volume of water entering the country.

The UN Environment Program (UNEP) has long warned that water availability in Iraq will decrease by around 20 percent by 2025, threatening the long-term stability of agriculture and industry sectors.