Baghdad agrees with Damascus on a fixed share of Euphrates waters

Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources announced an agreement with the Syrian government to pass a fixed share of the Euphrates River from Turkey to Iraq.

Al-Sabah newspaper quoted the official spokesman for the ministry, Counselor Aoun Diab Abdullah, as saying on Tuesday, that "the agreement came during the visit of the Minister of Water Resources, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, to Damascus recently at the invitation of the Syrian-based Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD)," noting that " the purpose of the meeting between the two sides is to discuss the water file, because Syria is the natural passageway for the waters of the Euphrates River.

He indicated that they agreed with Syria to pass a fixed water share to Iraq from the Euphrates River which extends from Turkey to Syria, which was agreed upon at the end of last century," noting that "the agreement also aims to unify a common position between Iraq and Syria regarding the continuation of negotiations with Turkey over the shared rivers."

According to the agreement previously signed between the three neighboring countries during the eighties of the last century, Iraq gets 58 percent of the Euphrates waters, while Syria gets 42 percent of it, which requires Turkey to release at least 1,000 cubic meters.

Abdullah stressed that "the water quotas currently arriving at the Syrian border from Turkey do not exceed 500 cubic meters per second, of which 58 percent are for Iraq, or 290 cubic meters / second, and less than 200 cubic meters per second for Syria which caused a drop in water reservoir in Tabqa Al-Suri dam.

Iraq's two main water sources Euphrates and Tigris rivers account for 98% of Iraq's surface water supply. Their flow has recently become very vulnerable to dams and water diversions in Turkey, Syria, and Iran.

A report prepared by the  International Organization for Research Research indicated a sharp decrease in the water shares coming within the Euphrates River, bringing its total revenues to 32 billion cubic meters per second by the year 2040. Iraq’s needs will then amount to 23 billion cubic meters, as for the needs of Syria and Turkey they will need 30 billion cubic meters, and therefore the final imports of the river will not be enough to cover the needs of Turkey and Syria, while Iraq will lose the entire river's resources at that time.



PUKmedia