ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday inaugurated the second and final phase of Erbil’s landmark $200-million emergency water project, a major infrastructure initiative designed to end the capital’s water crisis for the next three decades.
“This is the last phase of supplying water to Erbil. Today, we came and inaugurated it. This project will definitely serve the residents of Erbil and the entire Kurdistan Region in the best way possible. It has been implemented in a very advanced way,” Prime Minister Barzani told reporters - including Rudaw’s - noting that the project was completed in record time.
He further emphasized that the project was “fully undertaken” by local human resources and manpower, implemented by “a local company” - Hemn Group.
“I saw that very advanced technologies have been used in the project to ensure water quality so our people can benefit from it,” the prime minister explained.
The project is scheduled to begin supplying water to Erbil neighborhoods in December.
The Emergency Water Supply Project, also called the Rapid Water Emergency Project, covers 40 neighborhoods across the Kurdish capital - many of which have long relied on wells, including areas outside the city’s 120-meter and 150-meter streets. With the project’s completion, these wells will no longer be used.
Launched by Prime Minister Barzani in September 2024, the facility - located along the Gwer-Erbil road - aims to address chronic shortages by recycling wastewater for irrigation and agricultural use over the next 30 years. Erbil has long suffered water scarcity, particularly its eastern districts.
“Erbil’s biggest problem has been resolved,” Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw told Rudaw, adding, “Today is one of the happiest days of my life.”
Meanwhile, Sasan Auni, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) municipalities minister remarked that "the importance of this project is beyond description."
The key project comes as Iraq is grappling with the worst water crisis it has seen in decades.
The country consumes more than 80 percent of its available supply and is ranked among the 25 most water-stressed nations in the world, according to the World Resources Institute.
Iraq relies heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but large Turkish dam projects, including the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), have cut flows to less than 40 percent of historic levels. Reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, upstream dams, and years of mismanagement have also deepened the crisis.
Iraq and Turkey on Sunday signed the implementation mechanism of a Framework Water Cooperation Agreement, which officials say aims to provide sustainable solutions to Iraq’s worsening water crisis.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, who oversaw the signing, hailed the agreement as “one of the sustainable solutions to Iraq’s water crisis,” saying it includes “a package of major joint projects to be implemented in the water sector.”
On Monday, Mark Savaya, United States Special Envoy to Iraq congratulated Baghdad and Ankara on signing the key agreement aimed at resolving the long-standing water management issues between the two countries.
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