Across Iraq, water sources that have been taken for granted and relied upon throughout centuries of hardship, chaos and drought are under threat. So too, as a result, are the livelihoods of many people in the country who find themselves facing unprecedented challenges in accessing one of life’s essential resources.
A combination of conflicts, corruption, mismanagement and regional political disputes has left the people of Iraq facing chronic water shortages that are having severe effects on the country’s agriculture, economy and the health of its citizens, so much so that the viability of many communities is now in question.
Over the past five years Baghdad residents have grown used to the sight of islands of land protruding along the Tigris River where once only its mighty waters were visible. It is a phenomenon associated with rivers in which water levels have dropped to record low levels as a result of decreasing volumes.
As a result, a number of barren islands now dot the surface of one of the world’s most storied waterways as it meanders meekly through the Iraqi capital, a shadow of the swift, green torrent that helped sustain the ancient land through the ages.
alam, who gave only his first name, is a taxi driver who has lived in Baghdad all of his life. In years gone by he watched the Tigris roar through the city but he said its flow has diminished over the years and now he can see the narrow riverbed.
“I’m doing better than most in the rest of Iraq,” he told Arab News. “My water charges are still relatively affordable but I do have to buy a lot of drinking water for cooking as I cannot use tap water, which is way too contaminated.”
He has friends and relatives in Diyala, in central-eastern Iraq, and for them he said it is a different story.
“My farmer friends are struggling, so I often lend them money to get by. May God help them,” he explained.
In southern Iraq, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers combine to spill into the fabled Mesopotamian Marshes, buffaloes drink from stagnant pools of polluted water and farmers paddle traditional canoes through what used to be pristine potable water but now more resembles industrial sludge.
The supply of freshwater to the once mighty rivers has been restricted at their sources by dams built in Turkey, which have blocked much of the flow of the Euphrates and Tigris into Syria and Iraq.
The two rivers supply 98 percent of Iraq’s surface water. Other water sources have been stemmed in Iran, which means that the once-reliable volumes of water that helped staved off famine and sickness, even during years of dire drought, are now far from guaranteed.
In 2018, the UN classified Iraq as fifth in the world in terms of nations’ vulnerability to climate change. The effects have been clear over the past 15 years, with lower rainfalls and longer and hotter heat waves becoming more frequent.
Studies by the Iraqi government reveal that the country is now about 40 percent desert, and the salinity of much of the land is too high for agriculture.