Tigris and Euphrates water level drops by 50% in Iraq
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – On Sunday, Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rashid announced that water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have been halved.
“Water supply coming from Turkey to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has decreased by 50 percent,” Rashid said in a press conference at the ministry’s headquarters in the capital Baghdad.
Rashid indicated that the decrease in water levels of the Tigris River currently is “planned, and we are working on that,” pointing out that this water is not needed at the present time, “what we need is only drinking water.”
“We are gradually releasing water from the dams, and the water level in the Tigris River will rise during the next two weeks to meet the requirements of the summer agricultural season,” the minister added.
The water of the tributaries of the Darbandikhan Dam has reached zero percent, while the water in the Lower Zab has dropped by 70 percent.
Rashid pointed out that, “We’ve got some news that Iran is diverting some tributaries into Iran, including the Sirwan River and some of the waters of Diyala’s tributary.”
“This information was confirmed by our technical control in the ministry and we felt that the news was true,” according to the minister.
He stressed that this matter “will cause a problem in the future, not at the present time, and we have asked Iran to hold a meeting with it on this issue, but without a response from Iran.”
On Saturday, head of the Iraqi Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Water and Marshlands Salam al-Shammari, called on the Presidency of Parliament, the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources to hold an emergency meeting to discuss ways to address the drop in water levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Al-Shammari added in a statement, “The assemblies must open communication channels with Syria, Turkey, and Iran in order to guarantee Iraq’s share of water from the two rivers without exceeding the quotas, and not to exploit the water issue for other things.”
According to the statement, the head of the Agriculture Committee renewed his call to conclude new agreements with the three countries under international supervision that would guarantee Iraq’s share of the two rivers in order to ensure the success of the agricultural and irrigation plans in the country.
The drought that occurred in the Tigris River and the consequent environmental, health, agricultural, and service repercussions in the northern region of Syria have caused concern in Iraq.