Hamrin, Iraq —
Iraq’s Lake Hamrin, a once-vast reservoir northeast
of Baghdad that is the sole source of water for irrigation across Diyala
province, has nearly dried out, a senior official said Friday.
اضافة اعلان
Successive years of low
rainfall and a sharp
reduction in the flow of water down the Sirwan River from neighboring Iran have
reduced much of the lake to a dust bowl, the official told AFP. “There has been
a sharp reduction in the water level — reserves currently stand at 130 million
cubic meter against two billion cubic meters normally,” said Aoun Dhiab, a
senior adviser in the water ministry.
Dhiab said a number of factors were to blame
including the prolonged drought and Iranian dam construction and river
diversion projects upstream. Dhiab said it was not the first time water levels
had fallen so low. “In 2009, the lake dried out completely. There was just a
stream.” He said the impact on
surrounding farmland should not be underestimated.
“There are no other sources of water in the province
— the volume arriving in Lake Hamrin is the volume used in the province.” He
said the government had asked Iran to increase the flow of water across the
border. Otherwise, all that could be done was to pray for higher rainfall next
year.
The problem is not exclusive to Diyala province. The
World Bank predicts that without major changes, Iraq will have lost 20 percent of its
water resources by 2020.
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