QARA QAWZAQ, Syria — Syrian farmers who rely on the Euphrates river fear a severe blow to their livelihood as its water level declines. The water loss is caused in part by Turkey, the upstream state, decreasing the river's flow through its extensive dam system. Water from the river is the backbone to many parts of life in the Qara Qawzaq area near Kobane, northern Syria. The water pumps farmers use to irrigate their land run on electricity. According to locals, electricity supply has dropped to 10 hours a day, when it used to be 18. Kurdish officials in northeast Syria warned last week of disaster in the region, with officials accusing Turkey and Turkish-backed militias of once again cutting off their water supply. Ilham Ahmed, president of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), said on Tuesday that Ankara has “intentionally” withheld water from the Euphrates to induce “a real drought in Syria.” The river's low water level threatens a "humanitarian disaster in the eastern region," UK-based human rights monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has similarly warned. "The low level of water in the Euphrates will cause diseases," Qara Qawzaq local Mohammed al-Haj warned."There will be infections, and the low level of water will be damaging to the people, because it causes power cuts." Jihad Bayram, head of the office for the Rojava Dam in Tabqa, told Rudaw on Wednesday that Turkey and Turkish-backed militia water blockades have cut the volume of water it sees by two-thirds, severely impacting the region’s economy and agriculture. “We are supposed to receive 500 cubic meters of water [per second], but this has decreased to 160 cubic meters,” Bayram said. “We have decreased the provision of public electricity to 10 hours [per day] to consume the water economically.”
