Water returns to Mishkhab and the birds follow

NAJAF — Waterfowl and migratory birds are back in Mishkhab after rising water levels, residents say, following six or seven years in which drought shrank the wetlands and drove farming and livestock keeping into decline.

Footage obtained by 964media showed flocks moving between bodies of water across the district. Residents reported mallards, ducks and waterhens along with migratory species known locally as Abu Basila, al-Hadhaf and al-Barbish.

Adel al-Salami said he saw a bird he had never come across in the area while checking levels in the Shahat River at the start of the summer growing season, one of the species rarely seen there and associated with permanent water. Drought over the past six or seven years had cut agriculture, livestock and poultry raising and pushed some people out of the countryside, he said. The water has brought families back to keeping ducks and poultry, with some setting up small breeding operations after giving up during the shortages.

Farmer Haider al-Jasimi said the change is visible in the fields as well, with greener farmland, more fish and poultry, and aquatic and migratory birds returning.

Iraq entered 2026 after what the Water Resources Ministry called its worst drought in roughly eight decades, with reserves falling sharply through 2025, before heavier rain and snow in the 2025-26 season lifted reservoir, river and lake levels. The ministry said last month that national storage had recovered to about 34 billion cubic meters, while forecasting it would enter next winter with just over 20 billion — a drawdown of about 40% over the coming months.

Residents said keeping water levels stable could support farming, fisheries, livestock and wildlife, and open up local environmental tourism.