SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq is in talks with neighboring countries to secure its share of water, the spokesman of Iraqi ministry of water resources said Sunday, as the country is facing water shortages.
Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Mahdi al-Hamdani held “an important” virtual meeting with his Syrian counterpart to discuss water and damages of water scarcity due to climate change, spokesman Ali Radi Fadel said.
Iraq “is coordinating with Syria regarding strategic storage in dams and water distribution fairly in accordance with the international charters and agreements,” Fadel added.
“The lack of rain and snow caused a huge shortage of water resources, but Iraq suffered the most damage from the scarcity of water,” he continued.
Fadel said levels of water in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had decreased by 50% compared to last year.
He hoped “water flow will be increased immediately after the start of the summer plan, and water levels will rise in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.”
“There have been meetings with the Syrian side and contacts with Turkey and Iran so as to lay down the outlines and agree to share the damage in such circumstances,” he said.
Turkey is holding back water on the Tigris River to fill a reservoir behind its Ilisu dam, a step that has alarmed Iraq and caused shortages particularly in the southern province of Basra.
Turkey has also limited the flow of the Euphrates River into Syria for over three months, according to North Press Agency (NPA), which covers news in northeastern Syria.
The water flow to the Euphrates is now limited to less than 200 cubic meters, the General Administration of Dams in northeastern Syria said.
An agreement signed between Turkey and Syria in 1987 stipulates that Ankara should release from its dams 500 cubic meters of water per second down the Euphrates and across the border.
