HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Abdulaziz, 35 years old, fills her bucket with the drinking water she pumped from the Alouk station. Every time water is pumped from Alouk water station, she and her family rush to fill her household tank and to water the few roses and trees in her yard.
“Six months ago, I had no water. We hear that the station has been turned on and water has been pumped. We see some houses in our neighborhood starting to fill, but I have never seen it in my house,” said Abdulaziz, a resident of Tel Tamr, who lives with her family in the south part of the town.
The Alouk water station, which is located in the countryside of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in the north of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, has been under the control of Turkey and its affiliated opposition factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) since October 2019 following a military operation dubbed “Peace Spring” in which Turkey occupied Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad.
In April, UNICEF mediated a deal between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and Turkey, stipulating operating the Alouk pumping station in exchange for the AANES to provide the Turkish-held areas with electricity.
The station is the main source of drinking water for Hasakah Governorate, leaving residents to suffer in the absence of any other alternatives.
Because they have yet to benefit from the station’s water, Abdulaziz called on the municipality and the concerned authorities more than once to find an alternative and speedy solution to the town’s water problem, but to no avail.
Alouk water station has not been operational for the past seven months, causing critical drinking water shortages for some 500,000 people in Hasakah and surrounding areas, according to humanitarian reports.
Ahmad Muhammad, 25, a resident of the town of Tel Tamr, told North Press that, “the water situation in our town is tragic. The water comes one day and cuts off for over six months. Most residents now depend on non-potable water from the wells that were previously dug in the town. These wells do not benefit the population and are not a permanent alternative to the Alouk water station.”
Muhammad suggests drilling artesian wells or any other solutions to bring water, and dispensing with the Alouk station, “because pressure on Turkey to pump drinking water as before has become a useless solution, and this problem and suffering among the population will continue of no alternative is found.”
Additional burden
The water scarcity adds another layer to the people’s suffering in the region. It is making it harder for families to survive, as most have tried to cope with the crisis by buying privately-supplied water from trucks. Due to a decline in the value of the Syrian pound and an increasing in diesel prices, it has become unaffordable for most of them, costing almost 10,000 SYP ($1.30) per five barrels, which is too much for families with a limited income.
Sixty-year-old Watfa Ismail Ali, who is raising her orphaned grandchildren in her home, complains about the high price for filling drinking water from the town’s tankers. “The water from the Alouk station has not reached my house for years,” she said.
“I have called on the concerned authorities to find a solution for us, but all in vain. They must dig wells for the town to secure drinking water, because I cannot secure money to fill my household water tank,” the grandmother told North Press.
A longer term solution is required urgently. Local authorities try to provide an emergency water supply, as they call on local and international organizations to provide support in monitoring and managing existing groundwater resources to ensure its safe and sustainable use.
The co-chair of the water directorate in the Tel Tamr’s People’s Municipality, Hamdiya Hussein, told North Press “we know very well that the residents are facing great difficulties in securing water during this period, especially that the Alouk station is the main and only source of water in this town. And the water supply from the station is too little, so the water does not fully reach all homes and residents.”
“The water supply from the station is weak, and its quantities are constantly manipulated by the Turkish government, which has intermittently cut off the water supply from Alouk station since taking control of it in late 2019,” Hussein added.
Since 2019, Turkey and its proxy factions have cut off water coming from the station to Hasakah and its countryside 27 times.
Turkey’s cutoffs threaten about a million and a half people, as cholera infections have recorded a notable spike in the region.
“The Alouk station has rarely pumped water at full capacity; it did not pump any water for 7 months, and as Turkey continues to pump water below half its capacity, we are searching for alternative solutions,” Hussein noted.
She indicated that, through continuous discussions and meetings with some organizations, a project was put forward for the town of Tal Tamr “to dig three wells in an area close to the town that has not yet been determined, because they are waiting for the groundwater expert to search for a good place to dig wells and deliver water to the town, in order to end the problem,” she said.
Within a maximum period of three months, an alternative to the Alouk station will be found for the town of Tel Tamr, and new wells will be dug and connected to the main drinking water line that feeds the town and its countryside, the co-chair of the water directorate concluded.