Thirst exhausts the crops, and the vast fields are receding

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[size=52]Thirst exhausts the crops, and the vast fields are receding[/size]

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[size=45] Lake Dukan (AFP) - “The water was reaching where I was standing,” Babir says with a sigh, pointing to Lake Dukan, whose waters receded a few kilometers due to drought and dams built by neighboring Iran. Farmers in Iraqi Kurdistan are struggling to irrigate their crops as the economic lifeline has vanished. this. Babir Kalkani, 56, who belongs to the farmers' union in the region in northern Iraq, recounts the difficulty of the scene. He says that in 2019, “the water used to reach where I am standing. Today, however, it has retreated three kilometers!” In the sunlit fields, sesame plants and broad beans fill the plain. At the top of the plateau, Lake Dukan appears, which is fed by the Little Zab River, which originates from Iran, but for years, the level of Lake Dukan and the Zab River has been declining, as is the case with most watercourses in Iraq, which, according to the Iraqi authorities, is among the five countries most vulnerable to the effects of change. Climate and desertification in the world. Iraq's water reserves decreased by 60 percent, and with the decline in rain and three dry years, Iraq was forced to reduce the area of ​​its cultivated land. On the shores of Lake Dukan, Babir Kalkani says, "Were it not for some rain at the end of spring this year, we would not have been able to reap any agricultural crops in Kurdistan this year.” In the past, farmers used to dig shallow wells, from which they obtained water to irrigate their crops, but today “the wells have lost 70 percent of their water due to drought.” Via a generator to irrigate. “Sesame seeds need to be watered nine times,” says the farmer in desperation. So I will have to deepen the well again because the water level is dropping.” Drought is not the only culprit in this crisis. Neighboring Iran is building dams on the Zab River, especially the Kulsa Dam, “which caused an 80 percent drop in the level of the Little Zab,” explains Benfasheh Kinosh of the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank. The worst dry seasons in its history,” and reconsidered its irrigation system, a project that included “building many small dams.” There are also dams on Iraqi waterways. The Tigris River. But “the dam is now only 41 percent full of its capacity,” due to the decline in the level of the Zab River, as explained by its director, Kochar Jamal Tawfiq. The dam provides drinking water, especially for “three million people, especially in Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.” Precipitation will reach 300 mm in 2021, compared to its general average of 600 mm. As for the year 2022, it is not much different from the previous year, according to Tawfiq. "We release 90 cubic meters of water per second, compared to 200 to 250 cubic meters when the dam was full," he explains. As a result, farmers were forced to grow plants that “do not need much water.” Regarding Iranian dams, Tawfiq says, “Baghdad sent a delegation to Iran … but I heard that the Iranians are not cooperative.” It represents only about 6 percent of the waters of the Tigris and Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]She adds that what Iran wants to say to the Iraqis is to "treat your problems related to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with Turkey", from where they originate. But the Iraqi authorities are not completely immune from responsibility, according to Azzam Alloush, founder of the NGO Nature Iraq and advisor to the President of the Republic, Barham Salih. Alwash says that the Kurdistan region wants to build new dams in order to “secure its water security,” but these projects are organized “without coordination between Kurdistan and the central government in Baghdad.” He adds that in central and southern Iraq, “the lack of coordination and modernization of the system may be due to Irrigation has catastrophic results,” with more water shortages being more serious than the shortages that these areas are already experiencing.[/size]
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