SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has allocated more than 13 billion Iraqi dinars to complete the construction of unfinished dams, as part of measures to face drought the Region is facing, according to authorities.
The KRG Council of Ministers has approved “the allocation of 13,040,000,000 dinars [nearly $9 million] to implement the construction of dams in the Kurdistan Region,” the ministry of agriculture and water resources said on Sunday.
As many as 16 dams have remained unfinished in the Kurdistan Region. Officials had said a lack of a budget was the reason why they were left uncompleted.
“Whenever there is a budget, we can build many dams. We don’t have any technical problem,” General Director of Dams Akram Ahmed said in May.
Authorities have warned that the Kurdistan Region is facing drought and shortages of water due to low rainfalls and the construction of dams in Turkey and Iran, which has reduced water flows to the Region.
Water levels in Dukan and Darbandikhan dams have dropped to below 50 percent, officials at the dams have said.
The ministry of agriculture and water resources said in May that the KRG was planning to build nine more dams across the Region as part of measures to reduce impacts of drought.
