2019 has had a wet start, according to Mohammed Tahir, director of the dam, who said they have received a lot more rain so far this year over the same period last year.
“In the last 24 hours alone, about 86 mms of rain has fallen and Dukan Lake has risen by one metre,” he told Rudaw. “It is 7.70 meters higher than the past year.”
Some 2,389 cubic metres of water have flooded into the dam in the last 24 hours – creating both a good and a bad situation, he added.
“This is good news, but it isn’t good news for dams because we still have four more months for the dam to fill up and store water,” before the start of the dry season, he explained.
“Now we are forced to release water.”
He warned people who established fisheries on the Little Zab River without official approval that their projects might get damaged.
“If we release the minimal amount of water, which is 1,000 [cubic] metres, then on the Qashqol pass, where some investors work without our approval, [their projects] will be submerged under water,” Tahir explained.
Hundreds of fisheries on the river have been warned to take precautions and ready themselves for a rush of water released from the dam.
