Shafaq News – Baghdad

Turkiye delivered 120 cubic meters of water per second to Iraq, far below the 400 cubic meters it had pledged for July and August, as the two-month release period expired, the Green Iraq Observatory reported on Sunday.

In a statement, the observatory explained that the shortfall forced Iraq to compensate by discharging twice the amount from its own reserves, leaving dams and regulators depleted.

It cautioned that Iraq is already enduring a dire water situation, which may worsen in the coming months if effective solutions are not introduced, warning that the issue could be politicized during the upcoming election season.

In July 2025, Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani announced in Ankara that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to increase water discharges to Iraq by 420 cubic meters per second starting July 2. Later, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed that Turkiye would release 320 cubic meters per second to Mosul Dam and 350 cubic meters through the Iraqi-Syrian border.

According to the member of the Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Committee, Faleh al-Khazali, Iraq needs at least 800 cubic meters per second of water. He warned that “Baghdad’s main water treatment plants risk going offline without a fair share.”

The prime minister’s adviser on water affairs, Turhan al-Mufti, pointed out that the country is taking new steps to address water scarcity, including efforts to turn a memorandum of understanding with Turkiye on river flows into a binding treaty.