Peregraf - Ghamgin Mohammed
Despite possessing a wealth of water resources, including rivers, lakes, springs, and qanats, the Kurdistan Region is confronting a growing water crisis that threatens its population and environment. Residents face increasing thirst year after year as both surface and groundwater levels diminish, painting a grim picture of environmental degradation and a worsening predicament.
The water crisis is not a matter of scarcity but of mismanagement. Relevant authorities have failed to implement precise policies and measures for water conservation and have neglected to modernize the infrastructure for equitable and continuous water distribution. This failure has sounded an alarm, posing a significant threat to the future of water security in the Kurdistan Region.
Water security is defined as the continuous access to sufficient, safe, and affordable water sources to meet human and environmental needs without compromising the water resources of future generations.
An Uncertain Future
"In no way is water security protected in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, nor in our neighboring countries," Sarmad Latif, a water security specialist, told Peregraf.
According to global standards, a country is considered to have water security if it can provide sufficient water in terms of quantity and quality to its citizens for the next 25 years.
A report from the 2023-2024 New York Water Security Conference categorizes countries with protected water security into four levels. Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, is placed in the fourth level, signifying a complete lack of water security.
Latif accuses officials in the Kurdistan Region of focusing solely on the oil and energy sector over the past 34 years, while completely neglecting the critical sectors of environment and water. He asserts that the Kurdistan Region is rich in water resources and does not have a problem in that regard, "but it lacks a water policy."
In addition to rainwater, a portion of which is collected in dams while the rest replenishes groundwater and later emerges as springs, qanats, and wells, the Kurdistan Region relies on the Great Zab, Little Zab, and Sirwan rivers, along with the streams that flow into them, for its water supply.
According to a 2022 report by the Kurdistan Region Statistics Board, there are 5,276 springs in the Kurdistan Region. Of these, 2,500 were active, over 1,650 had dried up, and the fate of the others is unknown. Furthermore, there are more than 1,500 qanats, of which 433 have dried up and the fate of 817 is uncertain.
"The drying up of most springs and qanats in many areas of the Region, such as Gali Ali Beg, and the reduction of water in Ahmedawa, are dangerous signs and a great concern," said Kochar Jamal, director of the Dukan Dam, to Peregraf. "The government must have a plan, and water conservation must become a public concern for all citizens."
According to official statistics, the total water revenue from the Khabur, Great Zab, Little Zab, Sirwan, and Faysh Khabur rivers was 35.7 billion cubic meters in 2016, but this decreased to 13.3 billion cubic meters in 2022.
Global climate change has accelerated rapidly, affecting the reduction of rainfall and water, as well as causing drought and accelerating desertification. According to the United Nations, the Kurdistan Region and Iraq are the fifth most vulnerable region in the world to the effects of climate change.
The director of the Dukan Dam stated that this year has been extremely dry, a phenomenon not seen in the last 50 years. He cited his own town as an example, where from 1959 to 1999, the annual rainfall was 800 millimeters. However, from 2000 to the present, the rate has dropped to 500 millimeters, and it is predicted to decrease to 300 millimeters in the next 15 years.
"This decrease in rainfall is true for all areas of the Kurdistan Region and has created a great danger for the reduction of surface and groundwater," according to Kochar Jamal.
The average rainfall in the Kurdistan Region in 2024 was 653 mm, according to official statistics. In the past 12 years, the lowest amount of rain was in 2021 with 236 mm, and the highest was in 2018 with 893 mm.
Despite the decrease in rainfall, the Kurdistan Region still has good water sources. However, the problem is the mismanagement of this public wealth.
According to official statistics from 2010, out of a total of one million and 275 thousand cubic meters of water, 12% was lost during its transmission to the distribution networks.
Dr. Abdullah Botani, a specialist in dams and water resources, told Peregraf, "The system of releasing water from the dams is old and flawed, and the managers are unaware of new techniques. Also, the officials in the water sector, from the minister to the employees, lack significant expertise and knowledge in the field of water." He considered this a part of the intensification of the negative consequences of the water crisis.
Water is considered one of the most important sources of life in the world, and every country has its own map and policy for water security. Because water and water security play an effective and major role in political and economic conflicts, water security is directly related to food, national, and patriotic security.
According to the United Nations, more and more people are facing the threat of waterlessness in the world. Therefore, it encourages countries to have a strategy for water management and preventing its waste, so that in the near future, they can withstand the new challenges of the water crisis.
Peregraf attempted to obtain comments from officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, regarding the water management plan for this investigation on more than one occasion and at different times, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
Exhausted Management
According to global standards, each individual should have 1,700 cubic meters of water per year, but in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, the rate is lower than that.
The government justifies that the phenomenon of drought has a great impact on the decline of water levels and has magnified the problems, as the groundwater level is constantly decreasing. If it was once in the plains, it is now in the mountainous areas; the springs, qanats, and wells in the mountainous areas have all seen their water levels drop.
According to official statistics published in 2022, the groundwater in Erbil has dropped by 500 meters. For example, in 1996, a well could be dug to 120 meters to reach water, but now it is difficult to reach water at 700 meters. This impact and its consequences are present in other provinces and areas of the Kurdistan Region as well.
Sarmad Latif, the water security specialist, said that around Sulaymaniyah, the groundwater level has dropped by about 20 meters, and in some parts of the city this year, the groundwater level has dropped by 30 meters. He described this as a "disaster" and mentioned the Sitak area, where the groundwater level has dropped by 200 meters. "This means that both our surface and groundwater are devastated, and we have no water infrastructure."
"The relevant authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government have not adequately realized the dangers of water reduction and have no plans or solutions, because the people in high positions are not specialists in the field."
Sarmad Latif emphasized that "in the Kurdistan Region, we have no water policy, and our water management is weak." He explains more clearly that from a technical and scientific standpoint, there are dozens of institutions that should be working on providing water security, but these institutions do not exist in the Kurdistan Region.
Currently, there are 21 dams in the Kurdistan Region for water storage, three of which are large (Dukan, Darbandikhan, and Duhok), with a total capacity of about 10 billion cubic meters of water. However, according to international standards, the Kurdistan Region needs about 12 billion cubic meters of water annually.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Darbandikhan and Dukan dams alone have the capacity to store 30% of all of Iraq's water.
According to information, the Kurdistan Region currently has three billion and 300 million cubic meters of stored water in its three large dams—Dukan, Darbandikhan, and Duhok—as well as the Gomaspan dam, which can be relied upon. This amount must be sufficient for all citizens until mid-November, taking into account that a necessary amount must remain in the dams and they cannot be completely emptied from a scientific point of view.
Dr. Abdullah Botani says that if several new dams such as Taq Taq (one billion cubic meters), Mandawa (330 million cubic meters), Bakrman (500 million cubic meters), and Dalga (100 million cubic meters) are built, the total water storage capacity in Kurdistan will reach about 12 billion cubic meters, which will provide a large part of the needs of the Kurdistan Region.
The main purpose of a dam built on a river or a lake is to save water to prevent floods, or to collect water for agriculture or drinking, or to produce electricity.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, it has been proposed to build four other strategic dams in the Kurdistan Region, but the Iraqi government is not completing the procedures.
In addition to dams, the Kurdistan Regional Government has built ponds in different areas, which were formerly more famous as swamps, under the pretext of water conservation and later for use in agriculture. According to statistics from the General Directorate of Water Resources, 118 ponds were built during eight cabinet terms, with a storage capacity of more than 22 million and 613 thousand cubic meters of water, and the cost of their construction reached more than 28 billion and 788 million dinars. In the ninth cabinet, over 40 ponds were built, and a number of others have been approved.
Botani is not in favor of building ponds, and he explains the reason himself, "I think it is just a waste of money because the ponds hold a small amount of water, and that amount of water is lost every year through evaporation. Instead, I am in favor of building the dams that are planned to be built."
In the Kurdistan Region, there is weak monitoring of encroachment on groundwater. According to official statistics, 28,410 illegal wells have been drilled, of which more than 10,000 are in Sulaymaniyah, six thousand in Erbil, 500 in Duhok, and 1,500 in Garmian.
There are also other wells that have been drilled legally and with the government's knowledge, or that the government has drilled itself. These amount to 26,818 wells, the majority of which are in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, each with more than 20,000 wells. Of this number, more than half are used for agriculture, and the rest for drinking and industry.
This is while, according to specialists, if the average rainfall decreases by 10%, the average surface water will decrease by 28% and the average groundwater by 32%. In the last 20 years, rainfall has decreased by 12%.
A Glimmer of Hope
In science, there is a coordinated and integrated strategy for managing water and water resources, which requires the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources, Education, Health, Interior, and Endowments to have a comprehensive plan to protect and not waste water.
In Sarmad Latif's opinion, "it is now too late to protect water security in the Kurdistan Region," but there is still a glimmer of hope, and they can start. The first step is to formulate a water policy, which the Region either does not have or is very weak. "In winter, we are carried away by floods, and in summer, there is no water for agriculture," he said, as an indication of the lack of policy and a plan for water storage.
The Kurdistan Region provides three million cubic meters of clean water daily for more than one million and 80 thousand official and registered water subscribers (more than 80% of households have water meters installed). However, this amount is not enough, and the daily need of an individual is 500 liters, as the government says, while according to the standard, it should be 200 to 250 liters.
The director of the Dukan Dam says the Kurdistan Region needs a solid strategy for water management based on research. Kochar Jamal also believes that the media channels should continuously provide necessary awareness to citizens to protect the water wealth and not to waste it.
The Great Zab, one of the largest and most important water sources in the Kurdistan Region, has an annual water volume of eight billion cubic meters in the worst-case scenario of no rain, according to experts. Because no dam has been built on it, all its water has been wasted annually.
The specialist in dams and water resources says that 62% of the water of the Great Zab, which depends on rain, is within the territory of the Kurdistan Region, and the rest, which is in Turkish territory, is in a place where the Turkish government has not been able to control it, and it also flows into the Region. "But it is unfortunate that in the past, no benefit has been derived from it, and it is only used for irrigation," according to Dr. Abdullah Botani.
For several years, the decision has been made to build the Bekhme Dam on the Great Zab, which has a storage capacity of 18 billion cubic meters of water, but only its foundation exists, and no work is being done on it.
Botani describes the construction of the Bekhme Dam as a constitution for the water of all of Kurdistan, but not to be built at the height that is planned, because in any event of collapse, it would create a catastrophe. Rather, several other dams such as Shiladze, Derane, and Dore should be built in front of it, and when they are full, then water would flow into Bekhme. With this step, they can eliminate the danger and collect 23 billion cubic meters of water instead of 18 billion.
"If we separate the Kurdistan Region from Iraq, it is not without water, and by building these dams, the Kurdistan Region can become the water center of Iraq," Dr. Abdullah Botani also suggested that the officials of the Region, instead of oil and gas, should be busy with the water law, because 80% of Iraq's water is under the control of the Region, and "it can be used as a pressure card in exchange for establishing its rights in Baghdad."
According to the agenda of the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government, it is promised to work for the benefit of surface water resources for the citizens' drinking water, and to deliver clean water to all citizens, and to not waste groundwater as much as possible.
Sarmad Latif deemed it necessary for the government to quickly begin drafting a policy for the protection and management of water, by working with the Ministries of Water Resources, as well as Higher Education, by preparing research to identify problems and solutions in a scientific manner, and the Ministry of Health, which is related to water quality.
"The two ruling parties, the KDP and the PUK, must understand the danger and from now on, not fill the posts with party endorsements, but make expertise and competence the basis for giving government posts. If they do not, a catastrophe will occur, drought and desertification will increase, and agriculture will disappear," the water security specialist warned.