Iraq faces drought by digging hundreds of wells: drinking water is a priority

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[size=52]Iraq faces drought by digging hundreds of wells: drinking water is a priority[/size]

[size=45]Iraq is increasingly resorting to groundwater to confront the great water scarcity, especially in the cities of the south, center, and east, through the authorities and citizens drilling hundreds of wells, as part of treatments that primarily aim to provide drinking water in the midst of drought.[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday evening, Wednesday, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources reported, in a report, that it had drilled about 600 wells in various regions of Iraq since the beginning of the current year 2023, indicating that it aims to drill 1,000 wells until the end of this year, as part of the “public benefit” plan. “, referring to the wells that are dug and whose water is shared by the residents of a village or residential neighborhood.[/size]
[size=45]An Iraqi official at the Ministry of Water Resources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the total number of wells dug by the state and citizens may exceed five thousand wells in all cities of Iraq, noting that the largest number were dug by citizens.”[/size]
[size=45]The official adds, preferring to remain anonymous, that “Anbar, Diyala, Wasit, Al-Muthanna, Baghdad, and Dhi Qar lead the governorates of Iraq in the percentage of wells dug by people using specialized means.” He explains that “most of the wells are private, meaning that the citizen digs his own well on his land or in the garden of his house, 30 meters deep, and uses it for irrigation and washing purposes.” Referring to wells used for drinking purposes, he stresses that “this is something we do not recommend, as well water must first be tested in specialized laboratories.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, Ahmed Al-Saadi, told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, “In the coming years, Iraq will be more dependent on groundwater. Therefore, the Ministry is currently working on preparing a plan and controls to prevent random well drilling, and granting licenses to drilling offices that have spread widely in different cities.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Saadi adds, “The liquefied water coming from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers stopped in several cities, due to the drop in levels, and thus their residents became dependent on wells for their lives.”[/size]
[size=45]While Al-Saadi asserts that “Iraq, due to the abundance of groundwater, is safe in terms of drinking water and water intended for human use,” he says that “achieving complete sufficiency in agriculture through well water is very far away.”[/size]
[size=45]Last October, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources announced its intention to use groundwater for agricultural purposes in six governorates, due to the unprecedented water crisis that the country is going through, warning of a dry year ahead.[/size]
[size=45]According to what was stated in a statement issued by the Ministry, it has “plans to map the use of groundwater for agricultural purposes in the desert of Salah al-Din, Anbar, Najaf, Karbala, the Samawah Desert, and Diwaniyah. These plans are linked to the Ministry’s direction to adopt a method of equitable use of groundwater, provided that we do not deplete our reserves.” “We are exposing it to a significant, rapid decline.”[/size]
[size=45]The ministry added, in its same statement, that “Iraq is at risk of another dry year if rain does not fall, because groundwater is fed by rain, and not only that falling inside Iraq, but also falling in countries neighboring the common basins, especially eastern and northern Saudi Arabia.”[/size]
[size=45]Iraq had reduced the area of ​​land covered by the seasonal agricultural plan by half, while certain governorates were completely excluded from the plan due to an unprecedented drought that the country was suffering as a result of Iran cutting off the tributaries of the Tigris River. The Iraqi government has threatened several times to resort to international institutions to obtain water from Iran, in accordance with water-sharing agreements, but it (the government) has not taken any step towards internationalizing the file, despite Iran’s rejection of any solutions proposed by Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that a previous United Nations report on water security in the Arab world indicated that 17 countries in the Arab world out of 22 are on the water poverty line, including 12 countries that are already suffering below the extreme water poverty line, including Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]However, in 2019 and 2020, Iraq succeeded in achieving self-sufficiency in more than 10 agricultural crops, most notably wheat and barley, and other consumer crops such as cucumbers, potatoes, and tomatoes. The agricultural areas then declined due to the receding water, which led to the ban on importing these materials being lifted again and their flow beginning from Iran and Turkey in particular.[/size]
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