Iraq paying for Turkish water projects with daily oil allocation

BAGHDAD — Iraq will cover the cost of water projects with Turkey by allocating an agreed share of oil on a daily basis rather than paying cash, the Water Resources Ministry said, as it put national storage above 31 billion cubic metres.

Six water-harvesting dams are planned in Nineveh, Karbala, Anbar and Muthanna under a framework agreement with Turkey, with projects possibly following in Diyala, Wasit and Maysan, spokesperson Khalid Shamal told Dijlah TV. Some designs are finished and others near completion. The framework covers land reclamation, water-harvesting and regulating dams, and closed irrigation systems using pipes to cut evaporation and losses. Turkey has committed to supporting sustainable flows in the Tigris and Euphrates and Iraq to improving irrigation efficiency, with Turkish companies taking part in implementation and some projects run on a design-and-build basis.

Mosul Dam holds 7.3 billion cubic metres against 1.6 billion a year ago and Haditha 5 billion against 1.8 billion, Shamal said. Mosul is taking in 630 cubic metres a second while releasing 850, a deliberate drawdown to keep capacity free for early rain or flooding, and 400 a second is being sent from the Tigris and its tributaries to Lake Tharthar. Haditha is taking 890 a second and releasing 500, rebuilding a reservoir depleted by earlier low Euphrates flows, with the ministry aiming for 6 to 6.5 billion cubic metres stored.

Releases to the southern marshes total about 70 cubic metres a second, including 10 to Hawizeh, five each to Abu Zirig and the Central Marshes and three to Hammar.

Shamal described Iraq as better than moderate on water, short of both severe scarcity and near-flood abundance, while saying extensive changes to management and infrastructure are still needed and would require substantial funding. Water Resources Minister Muthanna al-Tamimi said this week that Iraq could face severe drought by 2050 without greater investment.