Iraq
Fish ponds overflow in the Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province following heavy rains on December 12, 2025. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s water ministry announced on Thursday that the country’s water reserves in dams have increased by more than 700 million cubic meters as a result of the rainstorms that have hit Iraq and the Kurdistan Region over the past few days. Despite this, the ministry says the increase offers only limited compensation for the large deficit caused by successive drought seasons.
In its statement, the ministry said that water reserves in dams have risen “by more than 700 million cubic meters thanks to the heavy and moderate rainfall witnessed across various provinces.” The Tharthar Depression - one of the largest closed depressions in Iraq - alone has been replenished “with more than 200 million cubic meters, after several seasons without any inflow,” it added.
The ministry further noted that it adopted “a series of successful measures” to “manage the recent water inflow,” including using the heavy rainfall to “increase the levels of inundation” in Iraq’s marshes - widely known as the Mesopotamian Marshes, or al-Ahwar in Arabic - and to “push back saltwater intrusion” in the Shatt al-Arab basin in southern Iraq.
Iraq has also managed to “secure the water needs for irrigation during the current winter season in most provinces, which supports agricultural production,” the statement said.
“The recent rains and floods have reduced releases from dams and reservoirs, helping strengthen active water storage and extend its lifespan,” the water resources ministry explained, noting, however, that “these inflows only partly offset the large deficit caused by successive drought seasons.”
The World Resources Institute lists Iraq among 25 countries facing “extreme water stress,” meaning it consumes over 80 percent of its available water resources, making it highly vulnerable to drought.
While Iraq’s water crisis is driven by climate change, declining rainfall, poor resource management and upstream damming by Turkey and Iran, the absence of comprehensive water-sharing agreements with these neighbors leaves Iraq vulnerable to unilateral upstream actions that threaten its water security.
Since Monday, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have experienced torrential rains, causing flash floods and overflowing rivers and dams, particularly in the Region’s eastern Sulaimani province and Kirkuk province in the country’s north.
RELATED: Torrential rains ravage hundreds of homes, businesses in Kurdistan as dam levels rise
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