An Iraqi government official stated to Agence France-Presse on Thursday that the water reserves in Iraq have decreased by half compared to 2021 due to reduced rainfall and lower river inflows from neighboring countries. Iraq, rich in oil and gas, is among the five countries in the world most affected by climate change and vulnerable to desertification. Water is a major issue in this semi-arid country, which has a population of 41 million.
Aoun Diab, the senior advisor to the Ministry of Water Resources, mentioned that "the available water storage is currently 50% less than what we had last year, due to the lack of rain and the limited inflows from neighboring countries." Iraq shares its water from several rivers, especially the Tigris and Euphrates, with Turkey, Syria, and Iran. According to Baghdad, the construction of dams by its neighbors on upstream water reduces its flow into Iraq.
Diab also pointed out the "consecutive years of drought: 2020, 2021, and 2022. All of this has strongly impacted the situation in Iraq." He added, "This definitely gives us a warning on how to use water during the upcoming summer and winter season. We have taken these factors into consideration and are planning according to these data for the agricultural season."
In mid-April, Diab expressed confidence that the current amounts of water are sufficient to meet the country's needs, in a statement he made to the government news agency. Drought and water shortages have already forced Iraq to reduce cultivated areas by half for the winter season of 2021-2022.
The World Bank estimated that without appropriate policies, Iraq could see a 20% reduction in available freshwater resources by 2050. The bank stated that in a country where repeated wars have destroyed infrastructure and the reconstruction process is slow following attacks against ISIS, it will be necessary to allocate $180 billion over 20 years to build new infrastructure, dams, and develop irrigation projects. However, in 2018, the budget for the Ministry of Water Resources represented less than 0.2% of the total budget, amounting to $15 million, according to the World Bank's report last November.
