Shafaq News – Dhi Qar

Residents of al-Shatra district in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar province voiced anger on Friday over the severe drying of al-Bada'a water barrier—an unprecedented environmental event in nearly a century—blaming years of water scarcity and insufficient government action.

Local environmental activists and experts criticized state mechanisms for managing the country’s ongoing water crisis.

According to Shafaq News correspondent, activists said the flow rate to al-Bada'a, once 95 cubic meters per second from the Kut Dam, has dropped to 50 cubic meters since the Basra Water Project was activated. They warned that this reduction has crippled water supplies to the marshlands and disrupted potable water systems that rely on al-Bada'a stream, which is fed by the Euphrates River.

Dhi Qar Provincial Council member Ahmed al-Khafaji revealed he has submitted a proposal to the council leadership to ban Turkish companies from competing for future investment projects in the province.

“The aim is to exert pressure on Turkiye to increase water releases into Iraq,” al-Khafaji told Shafaq News, calling on the federal government to adopt similar measures as a diplomatic tool in Baghdad’s ongoing water dispute with Ankara.

Meanwhile, the District’s Administrator Haidar Ghalib confirmed to Shafaq News that Baghdad had responded to his appeals by ordering an increase in water discharges into the al-Bada'a River. “Water levels at the barrier have already begun rising and are expected to increase further overnight,” he stated, adding that technical teams have removed illegal encroachments and closed off secondary irrigation channels to prioritize water delivery to the severely affected al-Bada'a site.