{"id":58987,"date":"2021-05-06T11:54:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T11:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=58987"},"modified":"2021-05-06T11:54:49","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T11:54:49","slug":"euphrates-river-drought-to-affect-five-iraqi-governorates-iraqi-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/58987\/","title":{"rendered":"Euphrates River drought to affect five Iraqi governorates: Iraqi professor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ERBIL, Iraq (North Press) \u2013 <\/strong>Euphrates River’s drought in Syria will have direct impacts on Iraq, said Mahmoud Izzat Mahmoud, professor at Cihan University in Erbil on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being the country of the river’s downstream, one day, five governorates in mid-Euphrates may not see the Euphrates River passing through their cities,” Izzat told North Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So far, Turkey and Iran have not recognized that Euphrates water is an international river,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But rather transboundary waters, which  means, it obtains its needs of water and releases surplus to the neighboring countries, and this is an incorrect policy” according to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Iraq’s share of Tigris water used to be 21 m\u00b3 annually while now, it decreased to about the half especially, after constructing and operating Ilisu Dam,” he revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Izzat expected to face a stifling crisis by 2040 following the construction of Cizra Dam, 40 kilometers from Iraqi border.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more than three months, Turkey has limited the flow of the Euphrates into Syria, depriving large numbers of people of usable water. Turkey reduced the flow of water from the Euphrates River into northeast Syria\u2019s dam gradually, reducing the amount of water received to unprecedented lows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey keeps water in six dams, the largest of which is Ataturk Dam, the second largest in the Middle East, with a storage capacity of 48 billion m\u00b3, violating the international agreement they signed with Syria in 1987 which stated that Syria\u2019s share of water coming from Turkey is 500 m\u00b3 per second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The water flow to the Euphrates River is now limited to less than 200 cubic meters, according to the General Administration of Dams in Northeastern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting by Peshawa Bahlawi<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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