Shafaq News- Diyala

Al-Azim Dam in Diyala province has reached full capacity —estimated at 1.6 billion cubic meters— following recent heavy rainfall and floods, a local official told Shafaq News on Sunday.

Nabil Al-Obeidi, director of Al-Azim subdistrict, urged authorities to preserve the dam’s water reserves and reduce discharge levels to secure supply during peak summer drought. He warned that continued releases, currently at 15 cubic meters per second into the Al-Azim River, could lead to unnecessary losses, especially as the area lacks a significant agricultural plan beyond limited sprinkler irrigation.

Last September, the dam completely dried up, leaving only 9 meters of polluted, unusable water.

Iraq has faced a worsening drought in recent years, driven by climate change, declining rainfall, and reduced water flows from upstream countries, including Turkiye and Iran, cutting farmland, accelerating desertification, and undermining food security, particularly in rural areas. At the same time, water levels in dams and reservoirs have fallen below safe thresholds, prompting the Ministry of Water Resources to prioritize supplies for drinking and limited horticulture amid the absence of a comprehensive summer agricultural plan.

Read more: Iraq’s water crisis: A structural rewrite of agricultural governance