Tishrin Dam 30 cm short of ‘dead level’
MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – An administrator at the Tishrin Dam, on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, said on Monday that the water level at the dam is only 30 cm away from reaching the “dead level”, as Turkey keeps withholding the Euphrates’ water.
Since February 2020, Turkey has withheld the river’s water flow to Syria. Observers have warned of an impending humanitarian disaster as the river’s water levels drop to dangerous new lows.
Hammoud Hammadin, an administrator at Tishrin, told North Press that the water level at the dam is now 320.30 m, which is only 30 cm off of the so-called “dead level”.
If this threshold is reached, he said, the dam will be inoperative.
The water level at the dam is reaching unprecedented levels and we have not entered summer yet, he said.
Residents were notified about the record low levels, and that if water hits the dead level, the dam, which supplies the region with electricity, will go out of service.
On Thursday, another administrator at the dam told North Press that they were seriously considering temporarily putting the dam out of service, due to the severe shortage of water-flow from the Turkish side.
He added that they were obliged to do that due to the lowering levels of water coming from Turkey, adding they have a priority to secure drinking and irrigating water for the people of North and East Syria.