“We see that the water scarcity of Iraq is growing and the population is growing. So the big challenge for Iraq is to manage its scarce water resources to make sure that food can be grown and the people have water to drink, and also to make sure that the environment and fresh water are protected,” Meike van Ginneken, the Netherlands’ water envoy, told Rudaw English on the sidelines of the Baghdad International Water Conference.
The Iraqi capital is holding a three-day conference with the participation of hundreds of government officials, academics, and international and local civil society organizations to discuss the pressing issues of climate change, agriculture, and water management.
The conference comes a year after Iraq became the first Middle Eastern country to accede to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s 1992 Helsinki convention on the protection of transboundary watercourses and international lakes.
“We are very happy that Iraq is a member of the water convention, because the water convention is a good source of information, and a good source to exchange experiences on transboundary water issues,” van Ginneken said, highlighting that Baghdad can benefit from the experiences of member states in solving water issues with neighboring countries.
Water is one of the main challenges facing Iraq today. The World Resources Institute places it among 25 countries that face extreme water stress, meaning that it is using over 80 percent of its available supply of water and is at risk of running out of water in case of any short-term drought.
Droughts are more frequent and longer. Water reserves have decreased by half since 2022 due to a combination of drought, lack of rainfall, and declining river levels, according to the water ministry. The devastating effects of climate change are exacerbated by Turkish and Iranian dams upstream on shared rivers.
Baghdad and Ankara signed a strategic water agreement last week during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq. Bassem al-Awadi, spokesperson for the Iraqi government, told Rudaw at the time that the agreement will help resolve the water crisis in the country.
Awadi said that a joint Iraqi-Turkish fund in which Iraq will deposit oil money will be created, with the money then being invested in projects such as dams, canals, power generation, and pumping stations.
“I am very happy to see that there is more contact, more exchange and agreements between Turkey and Iraq,” Van Ginneken said, adding “It is always better to keep talking, to make sure you have the same data, and that you can agree on different water allocation and water quality.”
The Dutch envoy stated that there are similarities between Iraq and the Netherlands regarding water, so it is good to share their experiences regarding water data and modeling the effects of climate change.
She also noted that Iraq can benefit from the advanced agricultural practices of the Netherlands.
“Traditionally, agriculture in Iraq was with large surface water systems and irrigation systems, and that is very wasteful in a water scarce country. So how do we introduce new technologies, drip irrigation, better measurements, better systems for irrigation,” she said.
Van Ginneken said that the Netherlands also works “quite a lot” in agriculture and water in the Kurdistan Region.
“We also see that companies in the Netherlands, for example companies who deal in better, more resilient seeds, are very happy to do business in Kurdistan,” she said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has identified agriculture as a sector it wants to develop as part of efforts to diversify the economy away from oil. In December, the Kurdistan Region made the first-ever export of its renowned pomegranates to Gulf countries, the first non-oil export and a landmark step in efforts to broaden the economy.
