Iraq faces severe water crisis as river levels plummet

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq is confronting an unprecedented water shortage as river levels in the Tigris and Euphrates continue to fall sharply, exposing large stretches of riverbeds and forming mud islands.

Visual evidence and video footage obtained by Shafaq News show severe drought impacts near water intake stations in western Iraq, with some river sections now passable on foot.

Environmental expert Ahmad Saleh described the current drought as the most severe in eight decades, noting that Iraq has endured four major drought seasons since 2017. Satellite images from late September revealed critically low water levels in the Euphrates at Al-Kifl, highlighting the widespread environmental threat.

Experts link the crisis to reduced inflows from Turkiye, rising temperatures, and low rainfall. Ali Jassim Al-Masafri, head of the Gilgamesh Antiquities and Marshes Foundation, noted that normal releases from Mosul Dam should reach 350 cubic meters per second, yet current flows have dropped to 210, with only 130 cubic meters supplied from Turkiye. He warned that continued shortages could deplete Iraq’s strategic water reserves, potentially drying Mosul Dam by the end of November.

The crisis has fueled widespread public frustration, such as in Basra, where residents of al-Tamimiya, al-Hayyaniya, and Shatt al-Arab districts have recently staged protests demanding urgent solutions to water salinity and shortages.

Read more: From drought to saltwater: Iraq's deepening water crisis