Iraq: Heavy rains to refill reservoirs and marshes
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The current surge of heavy rain and flash floods will substantially increase the country’s water storage, refill the marshes, and push back salinity in the Shatt Al-Arab estuary, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the ministry said rainfall levels had surpassed 120 millimeters in some areas, unleashing floods across parts of northern and northeastern Iraq.
The upper basins of the Tigris and Euphrates—particularly the Upper and Lower Zab and the Euphrates basin—absorbed the heaviest impact, sending varying volumes of floodwater into the river network.
Ministry teams have begun diverting runoff into dams and reservoirs to rebuild storage levels that dropped sharply during recent dry seasons and reduced water inflows.
The ministry described the weather system as a rare opportunity to offset years of drought and dwindling river flows, explaining that the rainfall provides “a chance to rebalance national water resources,” secure irrigation for agricultural regions—especially in central and southern Iraq—and complete the first watering cycle of the winter season, which it expects will strengthen crop production and ease water shortages.
It added that the surge is also being used to re-flood the country’s heavily depleted marshes and improve water quality in the Shatt al-Arab by driving back saltwater intrusion affecting Basra Province.
