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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Groundwater levels have risen significantly across the Kurdistan Region compared with last year, with some areas in Erbil province recording increases of up to 90 meters, officials said Monday, citing heavy rainfall and the impact of groundwater recharge projects.
“In Erbil province, due to the presence of the large northern, southern, and central basins, the water level has risen significantly and has seen a good recovery,” Karwan Sabah Hawrami, head of the water resources department at the agriculture and water resources ministry, told Rudaw.
He added that in the town of Mala Omar, west of Erbil, “the groundwater level has increased by 90 meters.”
The increase follows an unusually wet year across the Kurdistan Region. According to the Region’s meteorological authority, rainfall as of early May reached 719 millimeters in central Erbil, 1,054 millimeters in Sulaimani, 921 millimeters in Duhok, and 1,109 millimeters in Halabja.
Hawrami also highlighted the impact of artificial groundwater recharge projects, which transfer surface water underground to replenish aquifers.
According to Hawrami, groundwater levels in Akre and Harir have also increased significantly, rising by 23 meters and up to 13 meters respectively compared with last year.
In Sulaimani and Halabja provinces, officials also attributed the rise in groundwater levels to the heavy rainfall season.
“The amount of rainfall in Sulaimani center reached 1,051 millimeters, whereas last year it was only 335 millimeters,” said Khumar Hama Najm, director of Sulaimani’s groundwater directorate. “Between 15 to 20 percent of the rain that falls enters and recharges the groundwater reservoirs.”
In Halabja, rainfall reached 1,099 millimeters, contributing to an average groundwater rise of around eight meters, compared with just 1.3 meters last year, according to Hama Najm.
Authorities in Duhok province also reported improved conditions after a difficult year in which many wells dried up.
Alfred Ablhad, head of Duhok’s geology department, told Rudaw that “the groundwater level has increased by an average of 7 meters across the province compared to last year, with some areas reaching a peak of 15 meters.”
Despite the improvement, officials warned of continued pressure on groundwater resources and called for stricter enforcement against illegal well drilling.
“There is great pressure on groundwater,” Hawrami said. “The drilling of illegal wells must be banned or significantly reduced.”
He added that enforcement measures are already underway, noting that “1,500 wells have been stopped” as part of emergency water projects in Erbil and Qushtapa, while authorities continue to impose fines and confiscate equipment used in illegal drilling.
The improvement in groundwater reserves comes as Iraq and the Kurdistan Region continue to rely heavily on upstream water flows, particularly from Turkey.
On Friday, Iraqi authorities said they had put emergency plans in place to manage rising water levels in the Euphrates River after Turkey opened the spillways of its massive Ataturk Dam for the first time in seven years.
The move followed heavy winter and spring rainfall that reportedly brought the reservoir “close to full capacity.”
Iraq, a downstream country on the Euphrates River, has long struggled with water shortages due to reduced inflows caused by upstream dam projects in Turkey and Syria. Tensions over water resources nearly escalated into conflict between Iraq and Syria in 1974 during a previous period of reduced river flow.
This year, however, unusually heavy rainfall has filled reservoirs and dams across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Kurdish authorities said last week that nearly all 25 dams and 180 artificial ponds in the Kurdistan Region had reached or exceeded full storage capacity, collectively holding more than 9 billion cubic meters of water.