ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kawa Haji has planted nearly 12 kinds of fruits and vegetables on nine acres of his farmland on the banks of the Little Zab river. But he and and many other farmers are now desperate for water to irrigate their produce.
For the past week Iran has blocked the flow of the Little Zab and Sirwan rivers across the border, two main sources of the Kurdistan Region’s Dukan and Darbandikhan dams, five days after Tehran initiated a set of major irrigation and drainage projects in its western provinces.
Haji says the dwindling river levels threatens a total of 750 acres of farmland in Sulaimani’s Pishdar region, leaving them without proper irrigation.
"The water level has continued to decline for the past five days," Haji told Rudaw. "The more the water plummets, the more we deepen our water wells. But if the river's flow comes to a complete halt and is never restored, a catastrophe will occur and hundreds of farmers will be jobless.”
Akram Ahmed, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Dam Directorate previously told Rudaw that the water shortages will harm 90,000 people in the region.
There are 17 dams in the Kurdistan Region, the largest being the Dukan dam in Sulaimani.
Dukan dam contains four billion cubic meters of water.
In addition to the farmlands, more than 400 fish projects in Pishdar will also be affected by the ongoing water shortages.
"You know fish projects require abundant water. Look what has happened to the level of the Little Zab river," Zaniyar Mohammed, the owner of a fish project said. "If it continues, hundreds of similar kinds of projects will see great financial damage."
Concerning Sirwan river, Rahman Khani, in charge of the Darbandikhan dam, has also warned of a "catastrophe" in the region, potentially even affecting southern Iraq.
"Millions of dunams of farmlands, fish projects, power production and drinking water sources for hundreds of kinds of birds will be affected," Khani warned.
This is not the first time that Iran has cut the water supply into the Region. Iran has over the years established multiple dams on the waterways flowing into the Region, decreasing the flow of the water across the border.
KRG officials have said the Region has ample water resources itself– with lakes, rivers, and groundwater – but admit they have a management problem, saying water is not adequately stored, conserved, or protected from pollution.
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
