The reservoir behind the massive Darbandikhan Dam, nestled between the rolling mountains of northeastern Iraq, is almost full again after four successive years of drought and severe water shortages.
Iraqi officials say recent rains have filled some of the country’s main water reservoirs, bringing levels to a record high since 2019.
“The storage capacity of the dam is three million cubic meters (106 million cubic feet). Today, with the available reserves, the dam is only 25 centimeters (10 inches) short of water to be considered full,” said Saman Ismail, director of Darbandikhan. establishment, declared Sunday to AFP.
Built on the Sirwan River, the dam is located south of the city of Sulaimaniyah, in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
“In the next few days we will be able to say it is full,” Ismail said, as the water lies just a few meters below the road that runs along the edge of the basin.
The last time Darbandikhan was full was in 2019, and since then, “we’ve only had years of drought and scarcity,” Ismail said.
He cited as an explanation “climate change in the region”, “but also the construction of dams beyond the borders of Kurdistan”.
The central government in Baghdad says upstream dams built in neighboring Iran and Turkey have significantly reduced the flow of Iraq’s rivers, in addition to rising temperatures and erratic rainfall.
This winter, however, abundant rains have helped ease shortages in Iraq, considered by the United Nations to be one of the five countries most vulnerable to some impacts of climate change.
In Iraq, rich in oil but where infrastructure is often dilapidated, torrential rains also flooded the streets of Erbil, the regional capital of Kurdistan.
Four hikers died last week in floods in Kurdistan and in Diyala, a rural province in central Iraq, homes were destroyed.
– ‘Positive effects’ –
Ali Radi Thamer, director of the dams authority at Iraq’s water resources ministry, said most of the country’s six largest dams have seen rising water levels.
At Mosul Dam, the largest reservoir with a capacity of around 11 billion cubic meters, “the storage level is very good, we have benefited from the rains and floods,” Thamer said.
Last summer, he added, “Iraq’s water reserves… reached a historic low.”
“The supplies available today will have positive effects on all sectors,” Thamer said, including agriculture and treatment plants that produce drinking water, as well as watering the legendary marshes of southern California. Iraq which have dried up in recent years.
He warned that while 2019 was marked by “a sharp increase in water reserves”, it was followed by “four successive dry seasons”.
Water is a major problem in Iraq, a country of 43 million people facing a serious environmental crisis due to worsening climate change, with temperatures frequently reaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer.
“Of course, today we have rains and floods, water supplies have relatively improved, but that does not mean the end of the drought,” Thamer said.
About five kilometers south of Darbandikhan, terraces near a small riverside tourist establishment are submerged in water.
But owner Aland Salah prefers to see the glass half full.
“The water of the Sirwan River is a blessing,” he told AFP.
“When the flow increases, the region becomes more beautiful.
“We have some damage, but we will continue to work.”
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