Baghdad – INA – Nour Al-Zaidi
Today, Thursday, the Ministry of Water Resources announced a shift in the water file, and while indicating its reliance on four-pronged measures, it confirmed the drilling of about 1,300 wells so far.
The Ministry’s official spokesman, Khaled Shamal, told the (INA): “The Ministry of Water Resources has taken several external and internal measures to address water scarcity, as the external measures included strengthening the water negotiation file with neighboring countries and convincing them to pay a fair and just water share and a fair sharing of water.” With Iraq,” noting that “the current government made a transition in the water file in a short period and transformed it from a diplomatic and technical file to a sovereign file, in order to strengthen the negotiation file, which included the technical, economic, political, and even societal aspects.”
Shamal added, “The internal procedures consisted of four axes, as the first axis included implementing the water distribution plan in a fair and equitable manner, including the application of a system of shifts and marshaling to the right and left of the river to ensure the shares of governorates and farmers in a fixed and clear manner, while the second axis included implementing an investment plan and within the budget for investing in materials.” Operational projects include the implementation of a number of projects, including reclamation projects, maintenance and enhancement of existing projects, rehabilitation and maintenance of existing infrastructure, as well as pilot projects related to sprinkler and piped irrigation and piped water transfer.”
He continued, “The third axis included the Ministry’s implementation of a large and comprehensive national plan to eliminate and limit violations in cooperation with the Supreme Judicial Council and the security forces. The campaign included removing violations of the river column, as well as violations of taboo rivers, streams, sewers, and canals, and limiting, identifying, and marking sources of pollution and pollutants for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their related tributaries.” Pointing out that “the fourth axis also included enhancing or compensating for the shortage and water scarcity occurring in the surface waters of the Tigris and Euphrates with scientific and calculated use of groundwater, as the Ministry invested through this work groundwater to enhance the agricultural plan for this season.”
He pointed out that “approximately 1,293 wells have been drilled, including 300 wells to address water scarcity in various areas of Iraq’s governorates, with the aim of enhancing the shortage and ensuring the delivery of fresh water to all beneficiaries,” explaining that “groundwater is a storehouse for future generations, but there are emergency situations for its use as it has passed.” Iraq has three dry years (2020/2021/2022) and until 2023 is considered a dry year, and these years forced the Ministry of Water Resources to use water reserves, and thus the reserves decreased to the lowest level in the history of the Iraqi state.”
He stressed that “we have decided to use groundwater and work to complete a model agricultural plan.”