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- SUNDAY, 04-10-2022,PM 1:15
- TAYSEER AL-ASSADI
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Water crises continue in Iraq day after day. After Turkey and Iran limited the flow of water emanating from their lands towards Iraq, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq came with a new blow to Baghdad by announcing its intention to build 4 new dams.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese company "Power China" to build 4 new dams without the knowledge of the federal government in Baghdad, according to what was published in the official Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah.
Over the past years, Iraq has suffered from an escalating crisis in the provision of water, forcing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to reduce water quotas, amid fears of drought.
Iraq records a significant decline in the levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, especially in the southern governorates, which prompted human rights organizations and unions to warn of significant effects on the agricultural sector and the possibility of stopping some drinking water plants in those governorates.
In this regard, the spokesperson for the (Federal) Ministry of Water Resources, Ali Radi said, "The Kurdistan government has agreed with Power China to establish 4 new dams, and although 3 of these dams are included in the strategic study of the Federal Ministry in the year 2035, the establishment of these dams -According to the study- it was exclusively for the purposes of generating electric power and not for storing water.
And Radi considered - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that the construction of these dams and the way it was announced would have significant negative effects on the waters in Iraq, especially the feeding of the rivers, specifically the Tigris River.
He added that the Kurdistan Regional Government is required to back down from building these dams or constructing them according to the plan of the Federal Ministry of Resources, as it is responsible for managing the water file in the country.
Radi pointed out that Iraq is suffering from a major water crisis as a result of climate changes, as it is among the top 5 affected countries, calling for the management of the water file in Iraq to be under the supervision of the federal government in Baghdad.
And regarding opening a dialogue with Erbil on the issue of water, Radi said that the ministry had contacted the regional government in this regard, but the matter did not lead to anything.
Despite the seriousness of the file and its great impact on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and other branching rivers, the federal government and the legislative authority did not issue any official comment about Kurdistan's endeavor to establish the four dams.
In turn, the United Nations Special Representative in Iraq, Hennis Plaschaert, warned on March 22 of the challenges facing Iraq as a result of the water shortage, while calling on its neighboring countries to engage in meaningful discussions on water sharing and resource management.
On the other hand, the Director General of Dams in the Kurdistan Region, Rahman Khani, told Al Jazeera Net that the regional government, represented by the Ministries of Resources and Agriculture, has full coordination with the Baghdad government.
He added that dams in the Kurdistan region are included in the Baghdad water plan, which extends to the year 2035, stressing that the establishment of any dam in the region will be through coordination with the federal side.
Khani revealed the existence of a "joint committee with Baghdad concerned with establishing dams in the region."
Iraq has 19 dams, most of which are built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries throughout the country.
Iraq relies on water mainly on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries, all of which originate from Turkey and Iran. The two rivers meet near the city of Basra (southern Iraq) to form the Shatt al-Arab.
Iraq relies on 30% of natural water coming from the Kurdistan region, according to the expert in water affairs, Tahseen al-Moussawi.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net between Al-Moussawi, the formative environment in the Kurdistan region helps to build many dams.
He added that the countries that participated in Iraq's water file took full control of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and other subsidiary rivers after 2003 by controlling the volume of water flowing into Iraq, so it became highly dependent on Kurdistan.
The Iraqi expert said, "Iraq is on the verge of a real drought, and the agricultural crisis is looming on the horizon after reducing crops this season by 80%."
Al-Moussawi believes that the new government will face great challenges regarding the water file and how to manage the crisis, especially since the new dams in the region will cause the water crisis to expand in Iraq.
In 2014, Iraq and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding in the field of water that includes 12 articles, the most prominent of which is stressing the importance of cooperation in the management of water resources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and determining each country's share of the two rivers' water.
In addition, the legal expert, Muhammad Majid Al-Saadi, explained that “the Constitution of Iraq of 2005 and in Chapter Four of the Functions of the Federal Authority Article 110/ VIII granting the authority its competencies, including planning policies related to water sources from outside Iraq and ensuring the levels and flow of water to it and its equitable distribution inside Iraq in accordance with of international laws and norms.
Al-Saadi told Al-Jazeera Net that "the constitutional text is clear and explicit and does not require interpretation in terms of the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal authority and in its fourth chapter of the constitution, meaning that the region can never create dams or control water levels without the approval and planning of the federal authority."
The legal expert pointed out that "this text cancels any legal text that allows exceptions to the region from creating or overriding the powers of the federal authority."
On the level of economic impact, Duraid Al-Shaker Al-Enezi, a researcher in economic affairs, said that there will be great damage to water estuaries and streams as a result of building dams in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Anazi explained that "this file will generate an economic crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, since building dams without the approval of the federal government will force it to take legal ways to respond."
He concluded by saying that "the damages that will result from this crisis will have repercussions on the citizen to the main degree."
And earlier this year, the American Brookings Institution for Research warned of a climate change crisis in the Middle East, noting that Iraq is among those places in the world most vulnerable to the crisis.
Source: Al Jazeera
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