Turkey’s cutting of Euphrates River water effects electricity in northeast Syria

KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – The General Administration of Dams in the Euphrates Region announced on Saturday the reduction of electricity hours for the Jazira region due to the massive decrease in the level of the dam’s water. The Administration accused the Turkish state of cutting water to the regions of North and East Syria.

The General Administration of Dams in the Euphrates Region declared in a statement that was read at Tishreen Dam that "the water supply of the Euphrates River from the Turkish state reached less than a quarter of the internationally agreed-upon quantity."
Engineer Jihad Bayram, head of the operations room at Tishreen Dam, told North Press that, “according to international agreements, the water intake should be 500m3 per second, whereas now it is 200m3 per second."

“Turkey besieges [northeast Syria] by controlling the water supply of the region,” he added.

“The General Administration of Dams announced that it will adopt a electricity supplying program for ten hours, from 2 p.m. until 12 a.m., until further notice while monitoring the low reservoir levels. A new program will be approved if the water level falls more than that, so the lakes do not reach the “dead zone”, where the lakes cannot generate electric power,” according to the statement.

“The supplying period will be ten hours, from 2 p.m. until 12 a.m., is for the Euphrates region by the Euphrates Dam and Tishreen. As for the Jazira region, it will be supplied from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. by the Swedeya Dam in the Derik countryside, which works on oil energy.”

The statement concluded that reducing water to northern Syria will directly affect environmental wealth and agricultural products, and will affect the community's economy and the general food security of the average citizen.

(reporting by Fattah Issa, editing by Lucas Chapman)