Government move to resolve the water “crisis” with Türkiye and Iran

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[size=52]Government move to resolve the water “crisis” with Türkiye and Iran[/size]

[size=45]The Ministry of Water Resources has begun a new movement with neighboring Turkey and Iran, aiming to ensure the access of sufficient quantities of water to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have witnessed a significant decline in recent years, causing major environmental, economic and social crises in various Iraqi cities, especially the southern governorates.
Last week, Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab revealed a movement to resolve the water crisis with Turkey and Iran, revealing that he had made a visit to Syria weeks ago to discuss the two countries’ share of the Euphrates River water.
Diab said in television statements, “Iraq is seeking to reach a clear agreement with Turkey regarding Iraq’s water share, and we hope to sign it during President Erdogan’s upcoming visit to Iraq.”
He added: “We informed Iran of the necessity of coordination regarding the water tributaries that feed the Tigris River, and Iran was also asked to open the waters of the Karun River to improve the conditions of the Shatt al-Arab,” stressing that “a new Iraqi movement to resolve the water crisis with Turkey and Iran has begun and there are positive results in this file.”
In turn, Thaer Al-Jubouri, a member of the Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee, says, “The new movement towards Turkey and Iran comes as a proactive step for the next summer season, and to ensure that Iraq’s fair share of water reaches.”
According to Al-Jubouri, “Iraq faces a real danger due to drought, and although the new movement came late, it must move quickly towards solutions to the crisis.”
He warned that “the continuation of the drought crisis without real and quick solutions will lead to problems and crises, the most prominent of which is migration from rural areas and villages towards cities, as well as harming the agricultural situation and increasing environmental risks. This is why government action must be at the highest levels, as this file has many and dangerous repercussions.” .
He pointed out that “the Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee will work to host the Minister of Water Resources to find out the details of the movement towards Iran and Turkey, what are the new agreements regarding Iraq’s access to its fair share of water, and the seriousness of this movement in resolving this crisis that has been going on for years.” For his part, water affairs researcher Adel Al-Mukhtar said, “Iraq is entering its fifth consecutive year with a stifling water crisis, as a result of the scarcity of rain and the lack of revenues from neighboring countries. Revenues from those countries are very few and at low levels in light of the drought crisis, especially since Turkey is in the process of constructing a dam.” Another on the Tigris River will cause great damage to Iraq.”
He added, “With regard to Iran, there are 42 rivers that have been completely cut off and water revenues have become zero, and among those rivers are the Karkheh and the Karun, which are considered among the large rivers. The Karkheh’s revenues are 4 billion cubic metres, and the Karkh is 11 billion cubic metres, meaning it is close to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in terms of The importance and all those rivers were completely cut off... That is why the drought crisis in Iraq continues with great seriousness for the fifth year in a row.”
Al-Mukhtar pointed out that “this drought has serious repercussions, and that is why we see the destruction of livestock, and a reduction in the agricultural plan to two million dunums out of thirty-two million dunams suitable for agriculture, and this reduction stems from the serious drought crisis that Iraq is going through, especially since the country’s water reserves It is estimated at 17 billion cubic metres, and this is considered a very low reserve, and this situation is especially dangerous with the increase in environmental pollution, as the low levels led to an increase in the percentage of pollution, especially in Basra and the southern governorates.”
He added, “The drought crisis prompted a large number of farmers to migrate from the countryside towards the city, and the number of displaced people approached seven million citizens due to the drought crisis.”
He stressed that “Iraq is required to work to activate the memorandum of understanding that was signed in 2014 and activated in 2019, which confirms sharing the damage with neighboring countries in the water file while providing a fair share from upstream countries to downstream countries in accordance with what was stated in this memorandum.”[/size]
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