Drought in Iraq Threatens Grain and Rice Harvest
Low Water in Euphrates Due To Turkey's and Syria's Water Policies
Jul 21, 2009
As the land between two rivers, Iraq has a long history of irrigated agriculture. Living on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerians developed one of the world's first irrigation systems in ancient Mesopotamia (Greek: "land between two rivers"). The two rivers flow from the mountains of Turkey through Syria and Iraq to the Persian Gulf.
Iraqi Farmers Suffer from Drought, Harvest Cut it Half
For the second year farmers in south and central Iraq are suffering from low water flows in both rivers. Rice and wheat fields along the river have turned into cracked plains of baked dirt. More and more frustrated farmers and impoverished fishermen flee to the cities looking for work. This year's grain harvest is forecast to be among the worst in a decade, according to Michael Shean at the U.S. Agriculture Department's foreign agriculture service. Water shortages earlier this year forced Iraq to cut its rice crop in half.
Alewi al-Shimmari, a father of six in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, used to grow rice on his 100-acre farm. The drought has left all but 12 acres useless for farming. As green land turns into desert, severe sandstorms have become alarmingly frequent. (Real Clear World, 7/09).
Turkey and Syria are Cutting of Water With Dams
Iraq's upstream neighbors Turkey and Syria built at least seven dams on the Euphrates. Turkey's controversial Atatürk Dam has cut the flow from the Euphrates by about a third. In 1990 Turkey held back the flow of the Euphrates for an entire month to fill up a huge reservoir. With no water treaties or agreements, the Iraqi government is reduced to begging its neighbors for water. At a conference in Baghdad, Ali Baban, the minister of planning said: "Our agriculture is going to die, our cities are going to wilt, and no state can keep quiet in such a situation." After extensive negotiations Turkey increased the flow of water into the Euphrates River by 130 cubic meter/second to alleviate the effects of the severe drought. (NYTimes, 7/13/09)
Recovering From Decades of Misuse and Destruction
Saddam's regime misused Iraq’s water resources for decades and left large sections of the country with polluted waters, saline-saturated croplands and little or no access to water resources. During the two gulf wars Iraq's water treatment plants and irrigation systems were further destroyed by bombing raids and neglect. The food production was disrupted as the irrigation system collapsed, rivers became open sewers for lack of water treatment. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsors programs to foster agricultural growth. Iraqi agriculture is the country's largest employer, second in revenues to the oil industry.
Restoring Water and Sanitation Services in Iraq
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