Irak: Wasserspiegel so niedrig wie nie zuvor

Die Wasserkrise im Irak spitzt sich weiter zu, offiziellen Angaben zufolge ist der Wasserspiegel so niedrig wie nie zuvor.

Einmal mehr schlägt die irakische Regierung Alarm:

 Iraq’s water reserves are the “lowest” in the country’s history, having reduced to almost half of last year’s amount, a spokesperson for the Iraqi water ministry told Rudaw on Monday. 

“Current water reserves in Iraq are the lowest in the history of the country, and is 50 percent of last year,” Khaled al-Shamali, spokesman of the Iraqi ministry of water resources told Rudaw’s Hastiyar Qadir in a phone call. 

Shamali also said that the amount of water flowing into Iraq through the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is lower than the amount being released by the retention dams on both rivers. The Mosul dam on the Tigris River receives 275 cubic meters of water per second (mcps) but releases 400 mcps, while the Haditha dam on the Euphrates River releases 200 mcps but only receives a flow of 153 mcps.

The figures and statistics offered by Shamali are alarming as the country grapples with the effects of climate change. 

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, originating from Turkey, serve as Iraq's primary water source.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi water resources ministry reported that the water reserves in Iraq had decreased to 7 billion meter cubes, compared to 60 billion meter cubes in 2020. Currently, the country's water reserves are at 5 billion meter cubes, according to Shamali.

Wie schlimm es um die Lage bestellt ist beschreibt eindrücklich auch dieser Artikel aus dem Juni des Jahres.