With the regional drought carrying on for its third year, Iraq is in a water bind as its rivers dry up. Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reports that Baghdad has urged Istanbul and Damascus to release water so that residents of southern Iraq don’t flee of thirst. The problem is that they are suffering from water problems of their own. Left, the three countries’ ministers meet in Ankara.
Iraq, once a food exporter, has to import 80 percent of its supply this year. The country has turned off the hydroelectric power plants over the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers to release dammed waters, but it hasn’t been enough. Now Iraq wants Syria and Turkey, both upstream, to release their own dams. In response, Turkey said they are trying, but global warming is decreasing the water supply there too:
“We even abnegated our electricity production in order to provide Iraq and Syria with more water,” said Environment and Forest Minister Veysel Eroğlu, who hosted the Ankara summit along with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız.
Eroğlu said climate change was the main cause of the dried-up riverbeds.
“Turkey’s biggest dam, the Atatürk Dam, has been almost emptied. The water level decreased by 10 percent,” he said, confirming that his country had provided a flow of 500 cubic meters per second in line with its legal responsibilities.
Iraq’s water shortage is having disastrous effects. An area that used to be known as the Garden of Eden – 9,00 km. sq. of lush marshes – has shriveled into a parched pach of 760 km. sq. The depopulated wasteland is becoming a haven for drug smugglers. In April Turkey announced it would release more water to revive the marshes, but apparently that effort hasn’t gotten too far.
But Syria and Turkey have their issues, as well. Climate change has emptied out 160 villages in the northern reaches of Syria, while lakes in Turkey have been drying up or turning into polluted salt water marshes thanks to warming and river diversion.
:: Photo from Hurriyet
Author: Daniella Cheslow
Daniella Cheslow grew up in a car-dependent suburb in New Jersey, where she noticed strip malls and Wal-Marts slowly replacing farmland. Her introduction to nature came through hiking trips in Israel. As a counselor for a freshman backpacking program at Northwestern University, Daniella noticed that Americans outdoors seemed to need to arm themselves with performance clothing, specialized water bottles and sophisticated camping silverware. This made her think about how to interact with and enjoy nature simply. This year, Daniella is getting a Master’s in Geography from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She also freelance writes, photographs and podcasts. In her free time, she takes day trips in the desert, drops off compost and cooks local foods like stuffed zucchini, kubbeh and majadara. Daniella gets her peak oil anxiety from James Howard Kunstler and her organic food dreams from Michael Pollan. Read more at her blog, TheTruthHerzl.com. Daniella can be reached at daniella (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
I think that Iraqis obviously can't help themselves so they need foreign help. But as long as this help is conditioned by certain things they should give back to those who give this help, then it's going to backfire against them. I remember when Tony Blair was giving his infamous blair rewards by which he was giving out to his political partners all kinds of small favors which threw him in a category of nepotists.
I think that Iraqis obviously can't help themselves so they need foreign help. But as long as this help is conditioned by certain things they should give back to those who give this help, then it's going to backfire against them. I remember when Tony Blair was giving his infamous blair rewards by which he was giving out to his political partners all kinds of small favors which threw him in a category of nepotists.
I think that Iraqis obviously can't help themselves so they need foreign help. But as long as this help is conditioned by certain things they should give back to those who give this help, then it's going to backfire against them. I remember when Tony Blair was giving his infamous blair rewards by which he was giving out to his political partners all kinds of small favors which threw him in a category of nepotists.