Crackdown on illegal water use fledged for November

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Water Resources Ministry will launch a nationwide campaign to remove illegal encroachments on the irrigation network, including unauthorized fish ponds, Minister Muthanna al-Tamimi said Monday. It starts on Nov. 1.

Tamimi announced the decision at the ministry’s Advisory Board meeting, attended by senior officials and a representative of parliament’s Agriculture, Water, Marshes and Environment Committee, which reviewed water management, ministry performance and strategic planning. He said the campaign aims to “ensure fair water distribution” and to get water to all authorized users under existing regulations.

The ministry did not say how many fish ponds or other encroachments would be targeted, or what penalties violators face. Earlier operations have involved closing unauthorized intakes, filling illegal canals, removing unpermitted pumps and draining ponds and breaking down their banks so they cannot be reused. The ministry has long identified illegal ponds as among the largest unauthorized consumers of irrigation water, drawing heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates during drought.

Reduced river flows, prolonged drought, lower rainfall and rising temperatures have forced authorities to restrict agricultural plans, cut water releases and prioritize drinking supplies. The ministry said Monday that storage has recovered to about 34 billion cubic meters after a wetter-than-normal winter, while forecasting it will enter next winter with just over 20 billion.