The head of Sulaimani’s meteorology department on Sunday told Rudaw that the weather in the Kurdistan Region will be cloudy for most of the week and temperature levels are expected to drop as the Region is set to enter the first days of fall this week.
“Towards the end of this week, there is possibility of sporadic rainfall, especially in mountainous areas,” Aso Kamal said. “Most times, in the beginning of the season, rainfall will be partial, but there is a small possibility of heavy rainfall as well.”
The Iraqi Meteorology department on Sunday also forecasted light rainfall in the Kurdistan Region later this week.
The Kurdistan Region had a rainy winter season last year where Erbil experienced vast flooding, but the excess water did not provide any benefits for the increase of groundwater.
The severely hot summer led to water shortages across the Kurdistan Region, and underground water levels hit a 20 year low.
Kurdistan Region’s ministry of municipalities and tourism in June warned that the level of Erbil’s underground water has decreased around 500 meters over the past two decades.
Iraq is the fifth-most vulnerable nation in the world to the effects of climate change, including water and food insecurity. The effects of climate change are surfacing at an alarming rate in the country, and a senior advisor at the Iraqi water resources ministry warned in April that the country's water reserves have halved since last year, due to a combination of drought, lack of rainfall, and declining water levels.
In November, the World Bank warned that Iraq is running out of water, with devastating consequences for the country’s employment and economy, stressing the failure to manage water resources as a key damaging factor. The World Bank’s April update cautioned that further intensified climate change effects and water shortages will decrease agricultural production.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has long warned that the water available in Iraq is set to decrease by around 20 percent by 2025, threatening the long-term stability of Iraq’s agriculture and industry. According to another concerning report by the United Nations, dams built in neighbouring Turkey and Iran have also dramatically reduced the combined volume of the Tigris and Euphrates by up to 60 percent.
