Shafaq News- Al-Anbar

Al-Rutba, a town in the far western Iraqi desert with no river running through it, is ringed by dams and reservoirs holding tens of millions of cubic meters of water, resources that officials and economists told Shafaq News are being underused in one of the country's driest regions.

The largest is the Hawran dam, about 20 kilometers south of the district, with a storage capacity of 36 million cubic meters, said Imad al-Rishawi, al-Rutba’s district mayor. Others include the al-Husayniyat dam to the northeast, along with the Abila, al-Mat, al-Qara, and al-Malsi dams and several smaller structures scattered across the western desert.

For now, the dams mainly serve livestock owners, al-Rishawi said, while their agricultural use remains limited by a lack of modern technology and private investment, as well as the security challenges the province has faced in recent years.

A new dam, al-Massad, about 20 kilometers south of al-Rutba, would add roughly seven million cubic meters of storage, but construction has stalled at about 70% for lack of funding, al-Rishawi said.

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Economist Ahmed al-Karbouli said the reserves could do far more. He called the al-Rutba dams a valuable water and economic resource whose benefit should not be limited to watering livestock, particularly given the wide desert expanses around the district.

Modern irrigation methods such as drip systems and greenhouses could turn land near the dams into productive farmland growing crops suited to the region and its limited water, al-Karbouli said. He also pointed to the potential for raising and fattening sheep, cattle, and camels, alongside small plants producing animal feed and processed livestock goods, which he said would create jobs and support the local economy.

“Realizing any of that would require a partnership between the government and the private sector in funding, infrastructure, and eased investment procedures, along with studies to determine the best use of each dam in a way that conserves water and delivers a sustainable return,” he added.

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