Erbil water levels lowest in more than 15 years: deputy governor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Erbil province is experiencing its lowest water levels in 15 years, the deputy governor of Erbil told Rudaw on Saturday.

“Erbil has not faced such low water levels since before 2006,” Masoud Karash said in an interview with Rudaw radio. “This year’s drought had a very bad effect. The water levels of the rivers and wells have reduced a lot, and many lakes and wells went dry. This year the problem is big.”

In Erbil, over a third of water comes from surface-level sources, while nearly two-thirds come from underground reservoirs. 

The Kurdistan Region and Iraq are regularly affected by water shortages, however, this year the situation has been particularly bad, with was less snowfall and rain than usual during the winter and spring, as well as hampered water flow from neighboring countries.

“We have set up a team to look into facing off the drought, and they have done good work,” Karash said.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials warned in April that the Region was already in the midst of a water crisis.

Erbil has three water treatment plants named Ifraz 1, Ifraz 2, and Ifraz 3. Combined, all three plants provide around 20,000 cubic meters of water per hour.

Karash said that they are working on Ifraz 4 which he says will solve the water problem in Erbil.

Water shortages in the Kurdistan Region are also attributed to poor water management and inadequate funding. A budget of 2.5 billion dinars ($1.7 million) was provided in June by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for drinking water.

However Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw said earlier this month that the amount of money provided by the government is not nearly enough.

"In Erbil alone, we may need three times the amount provided to the entire Kurdistan region to control the issue."