Shatt al-Arab irrigation canal in Basra nears completion, says water resources minister

BASRA — Iraq’s Water Resources Minister Aoun Dhiab Abdullah said Tuesday that construction on the Shatt al-Arab irrigation canal is nearly complete, with 90% of the work finished and the project set to be inaugurated in the coming days.

The canal is designed to deliver low-salinity water to the districts of Shatt al-Arab, Abu Al-Khasib, Faw, and Al-Seeba, serving both agricultural and residential needs. Once operational, it will support 80,000 dunams of farmland through a 128-kilometer-long pumping system.

“The ministry has implemented several strategic irrigation projects in the governorates in recent years, including the Shatt al-Arab irrigation canal,” Dhiab told the state-run Al-Sabah newspaper.

The system draws water from the Al-Swaib River using high-capacity mobile pumps to ensure that water delivered to the targeted districts meets acceptable salinity standards. Running parallel to the Shatt al-Arab waterway, the canal is intended to relieve pressure on existing water sources and help stabilize agriculture and residential supply in Basra governorate.

Dhiab said the project also includes the cleaning and widening of water channels using amphibious dredging equipment to improve flow.

The canal is divided into northern and southern sections, with five pumping stations—two in the northern section and three in the southern—and a 12-kilometer branch canal extending into Abu Al-Khasib district.