Iraq’s Water Crisis Deepens as Drought Threat Grows

Iraq is facing a severe water crisis driven by climate change and upstream water policies in neighboring countries, with national reserves reportedly falling from 18 billion cubic meters last year to about 10 billion cubic meters. The drop is worsening pressure on agriculture and the livelihoods of many families. Firat al-Temimi, former head of parliament’s agriculture and water committee, said Iraq has been in a drought cycle for years and that the problem has shifted from temporary to permanent. He said dam construction has expanded without taking fair shares of water from shared rivers into account, with Baghdad among the areas most affected. Al-Temimi called for practical measures to ease the shortage, including the reuse of wastewater, controlled consumption of groundwater and the collection of rainwater. He said such steps are needed to help manage shrinking supplies. The Ministry of Water Resources said this year is one of the driest since 1933 because of low rainfall and reduced inflows from source countries. The ministry’s warning underscores the scale of the challenge facing Iraq’s water system and its agricultural sector.