Over 25% of water wells in Erbil have dried up, says local government head

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Omid Khushnaw, the governor of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, announced that more than 25% of the water wells in the governorate have dried up.

During an inspection of the Third Waste Water Project, Khushnaw said to several media outlets, "Over the past year alone, more than 100 wells were drilled to address the water scarcity issue in Erbil Governorate…over 25% of these wells have dried up this year."

Khushnaw emphasized the need to make greater use of surface water rather than relying on groundwater, noting that the Fourth Waste Water Project has been approved in this context.

40% of residential areas in Erbil have been experiencing water shortages since Monday due to a break in the water supply pipe for the Third Project, in addition to the ongoing rehabilitation of the Project, which had been allocated 20 billion dinars by the Kurdistan Regional Government last year.

In this regard, the governor told Shafaq News that work on the Project has been ongoing for more than 48 hours and is expected to resume service by Wednesday evening, which will increase water availability in residential neighborhoods.

Erbil Governorate relies 35% on spring and river water and 65% on groundwater.