Baghdad. The taxi driver draws my attention by pointing his finger in the direction of some islets emerging from the shallows of the Tigris River. “Look, look”, he tells me apprehensively. After a long season without rain, the driver looking up at the sky says: “Small white clouds, no sign of rain”. In Baghdad, drought looms like a grim prospect. But the signs were already evident in the southern Iraqi city of Al Amarah, in the branches and canals of what was once a river. Small dead fish lie scattered on the dry clay. People are worried about the fate of their animals. A tragic example of the future of Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers.
A strategic study by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources indicates that by 2035 there will be a 30 percent decrease in the amount of water currently entering Iraq, an amount that amounts to eleven billion cubic meters, after Turkey, Iran and Syria will have completed their irrigation projects. The report also stresses that “the need for water will grow due to the increase in population, which will reach 60 million inhabitants in 2035”. Another study by the Norwegian refugee council (NRC) reports that one in two households in drought-affected areas have needed food aid this year due to water shortages, while one in five does not have enough food for all. family members.
Official protests
Across Iraq, communities have suffered disastrous losses to their crops, livestock and income. Children eat less, while farmers and displaced people are more affected, according to research by the NRC, which carried out the survey on a sample of 2,800 families in areas affected by drought across the country.
In the south, since the start of water scarcity in June of this year and until today, the directorate for the environment of the city of Al Amarah has repeatedly sounded the alarm, warning that water scarcity has a negative impact on biodiversity of surface waters. What has the government done so far, and what plans does it have for the future? The answer is: official protests. “Iraq could resort to compensation claims from the countries that are causing these changes, which is a legitimate right, or it could propose some investment projects to optimize and better manage irrigation systems,” says the ministry’s strategic report. .
(Translation by Francesco De Lellis)
.