A former adviser to the Iraqi Parliament refutes “Sky News Arabia” these projects, and their validity on the ground.
And it was indicated in an interview with the Minister of Water Resources, Aoun Diab, with the Iraqi news agency “INA” on Friday that 26 projects have been identified awaiting funding from the budget, including the processing of sewage in marshes, the strengthening of groundwater tables, in addition to investing in dams for the production of electricity.
Regarding the current water situation, the minister pointed out that “the Euphrates river is still suffering from a state of drought, because Turkey has also not respected the quota established according to the protocol for the years 1987 and 1989 signed with Syria, provided that Turkey donates 500 cubic meters per second in the area of Tripoli on the Turkish-Syrian border.” .
An Iraqi delegation should go to Ankara to discuss this dossier and Turkey’s plan to operate dams this summer, according to Diab.
Ambitious plans though?
The plans revealed by the Minister of Water Resources may be appropriate to meet Iraq’s needs, but they face obstacles in their implementation, according to the assessment of Dr. Adel Al-Mukhtar, former adviser to the Agriculture and Irrigation Committee of Parliament.
He gives examples of projects that can actually be done, and others that are threatened by these obstacles:
Iraq is the first Arab country to have groundwater reserves with 31 billion cubic meters, but there are fears of unfair dependence on groundwater. which can lead to exhaustion. Regarding the investment of dams in the field of electrical energy, this comes up against water storage, which the minister confirmed earlier is the worst since the 1930s; Thus, there is a problem in power generation due to water level. Regarding the wastewater treatment in the marshes, it will have a positive impact in mitigating and providing an urgent solution, if the capacities are available to implement the project. In addition to the above, we had to invest the flood waters that Iraq witnessed during the winter season, but it was not done optimally, and the first was to store it; In anticipation of the coming, especially with the fear that the winter dry season is coming. Recent Turkish water releases reached in a month at a speed of 500 meters per second; That is the equivalent of a billion and a half meters, and it must be used correctly. As for the one who comes with Turkey concerning the agreement in the water file, he remains subject to protocols that are difficult to implement in a short time.
embarrassing situation
The former adviser to Parliament’s Agriculture and Irrigation Committee criticized what he saw as the ‘expansion’ of winter farming this year, until it reached around 6.5 million “dunums” of surface water.
This is because “all the water and rain outlets were paid for the weaning irrigation system to save the winter season, which was threatened by thirst, and this affected the storage that had to be taken into account to provide the water needed for the summer season.
And the Ministry of Water Resources warned last March that the water situation is the worst since the 1930s, as director of the Ministry’s General Authority for Dams and Reservoirs Ali Radhi said. Thamer.
In detail, water storage is in a very critical situation, and its total fluctuates between 7 and 7.5 billion cubic meters, while at the end of 2019 it fluctuated between 55 and 60 billion cubic meters, this which is a very big difference.
One of the reasons for the drop is the succession of rare rainy seasons, and this year Iraq passed the fourth rare season, in addition to the lack of water income from Turkey, with the rise in temperatures .
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