Iraqi drought unprecedented; land thirsts for rain.
Iraq 24 News Network announced in a report: Iraq’s water crisis has reached an unprecedented level over the past 80 years, and its solution requires, in addition to changing management policies, cooperation with regional countries.
According to this source, the water crisis in Iraq has reached an unprecedented level, and according to official and international reports, Iraq lost half of its agricultural land in just three years, and the sharp decline in the country’s water reserves poses a serious threat to its water and environmental security.
Since 2020, Iraq has faced successive droughts, and the country’s Ministry of Water Resources announced that half of the agricultural land, which amounts to 27 million hectares, is no longer cultivable. Under these conditions, it is predicted that Iraq will become a country without rivers in 2040.
The report states that the reason for this crisis is the mismanagement of water resources over several decades and the lack of effective government programs for the proper use and distribution of resources, as well as population growth.
The media outlet reported: The lack of sufficient dams and water reservoirs to store rainwater leads to the wastage of a large amount of water, as well as the existence of illegal lakes and improper distribution of water rights in various Iraqi provinces, which exacerbates the crisis and threatens domestic stability and livelihoods.
Drinking water shortage in central and southern Iraqi provinces
Experts on water and environmental affairs warned that the continuation of this situation will lead to the destruction of agricultural land and desertification and a shortage of drinking water, especially in the central and southern Iraqi provinces.
These experts emphasized that water resource management must be changed and, in addition to building dams and creating new water reservoirs and strengthening water distribution networks, cooperation should be established with the countries in the region from which the water of Iraq’s rivers originates and its water rights should be secured.
They noted: Water security has become a national and existential issue that requires strategic, urgent and sustainable solutions.
Recently, an Iraqi parliamentarian criticized Turkey’s policies in closing the Tigris and Euphrates waterways and said that Baghdad must take a clear political stance, because remaining silent about these violations will lead to a water and economic crisis.
In an interview with Al-Ma’ulouma News Agency, Zuhair Al-Fatlawi added: “Turkey’s hostile behavior against Iraq, including violating national sovereignty and waging war against water resources by cutting off the flow of water to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, requires a clear and decisive political stance from the government.”
He continued: “Iraq has many levers of pressure that it can use against Ankara, including the trade exchange case between the two countries, according to which Iraq imports millions of products from Turkey, worth tens of billions of dollars annually.”
Al-Fatlawi added: “The Turkish economy is largely dependent on foreign trade, especially Iraq’s. These economic relations are one of the strengths that Iraq can use to pressure Ankara on its water and national sovereignty case.”