The severe shortage of water and the manifestations of drought in lakes and rivers frightened the Iraqis of the seriousness of the situation of water resources, at a time when the Minister of Water Resources accused Iran of diverting rivers into it.

Pictures and videos showed the complete disappearance of Lake Hamrin, which is affiliated with the Hamrin Dam, which is located on the Alwand River in Diyala Governorate (eastern Iraq), while other videos showed a decrease in the waters of the Tigris River.

The Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, said that Iraq informed Iran during an official delegation's visit to Tehran that the problem was not in the 1975 agreement, but in Iran's diversion of the rivers heading towards Iraq.

Al-Hamdani added that "Iran has changed the course of the rivers and is working to deprive Iraq of water," calling on Tehran to sit down for understanding, given that the common tributaries are established in the light of which communities are established and it is illogical to deprive communities of water.

Al-Hamdani pointed out that the ministry is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to internationalize the water issue with Iran, noting that there are understandings with Turkey regarding Iraq's water share.

Al-Hamdani confirmed that the government is working to internationalize the water issue with Iran (communication sites)

Last March, the United Nations warned that the level of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq is dropping by 73%, and called for Iraq's participation in meaningful discussions with neighboring countries on water sharing.

The Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Program, Sami Dimas, said in a press conference held at the time in Baghdad that "Iraq is witnessing manifestations of a lack of rain and its impact on the levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, at rates that reached 73%, and the rise in temperatures to rates 7 times faster than the global rise, as well as the imbalance The population increased by 70% in urban areas, which led to the decline of agriculture.

The UN Special Representative in Iraq, Hennis-Plasschaert, also called for Iraq's participation in meaningful discussions with neighboring countries on water sharing, stressing that the United Nations family in Iraq is working in partnership with Iraq to manage water resources and reduce its negative effects on the environment.

cruel pictures

The impact of the pictures and videos circulating of the Tigris River, Lake Hamrin, and before that Lake Sawa was harsh on the Iraqis, who expressed through their accounts on social media platforms their fears of the drying up of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and water lakes and the exacerbation of water crises.

The drying up of the Tigris and Euphrates is a result of the drying up of relations with upstream countries, when gangs dominate the state’s decision and prevent communication with the ocean and impose one color of loyalty and subordination on our relations. dry it up

— Ahmed Abu Risha (@AhmedAburisha) May 8, 2022

The head of the Iraqi People's Awakening Conference, Ahmed Abu Risha, said on his Twitter account that "the drought of the Tigris and Euphrates is a result of the drying up of relations with the countries of the source."

Abu Risha added, "When the gangs dominate the state's decision, prevent communication with the ocean, and impose a single color of loyalty on our relations, know that we are on the road to death with thirst and desertification, and what is worse than that is that the state of loyalty is the one that cut the arteries of our land and causes it to dry up."

The drying up of Lake Hamrin in Diyala is an alarm bell that warns of a harsh summer for our people in Diyala. The main problem is that Iran is building 8 dams that cut off the waters of the Sirwan River, which feeds the Diyala River!!


Therefore, the Iraqi government must follow the official channels and pressure the Iranian government to release the water, otherwise Diyala is in danger.

pic.twitter.com/e5x85bearB

— Dr. Hussein Al-Zubaidi (@Dr_H_Alzubaidi) April 30, 2022

Politician Hussein al-Zubaidi wrote, on his Twitter account, that "the drying up of Lake Hamrin in Diyala is a wake-up call for a harsh summer for our people in Diyala, and the main problem is that Iran is building 8 dams that cut off the waters of the Sirwan River, which feeds the Diyala River."

"The Iraqi government should follow the official channels and put pressure on the Iranian government to release the water, otherwise Diyala is in danger," Al-Zubaidi added.

Meanwhile, activist Hamad Al-Najm called for a demonstration in front of the Iranian and Turkish embassies in Baghdad, and handed them over a demand to open the dams.

Al-Najm added that "the drying up of the Diyala River and the low water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are nothing but a war of wars that come through weapons and by cutting off water, viruses and destroying the economy. Wars are multiple."

Remaining pond from Sawa Lake in Samawa (Reuters)

Sawa dryness

Iraq had recently witnessed the drying up of the famous natural lake of Sawa in the Muthanna Governorate (southern of the country) due to the lack of groundwater and desertification that Iraq is witnessing.

And last month, Iraqi media broadcast pictures and videos showing the disappearance of the famous natural lake of Sawa in the Muthanna Governorate (south of the country) due to the drought afflicting the country, and the scenes shocked the Iraqi street.

Director of the Environment of Muthanna Governorate Youssef Sawadi said - in a media statement - that "there are 3 main factors behind the drought that affected the lake, including climate change that swept the world, and Iraq among the countries most affected by it, and the change of seismic plates that changed its natural course underground, as well as Dozens of farmers, factory owners, and factories built artesian wells that overused the groundwater, which contributed to a very significant drop in the quantities arriving to it.

Sawadi called on the Iraqi government to "form committees to follow up on the issue," while calling on international organizations to participate in solving what he described as the "environmental disaster" that befell the lake, which was considered one of the famous and unique natural phenomena in Iraq and extends back thousands of years.

Lake Sawa was teeming with different types of waterfowl (Reuters)

And the Iraqi meteorologist, Sadiq Attia, told Al Jazeera Net that the water in Lake Sawa began to recede gradually until it dried up completely, and the reason, in the opinion of specialists, is due to the movement of tectonic plates over time, which caused the drying of rivers under the groundwater feeding the lake, and the establishment of laboratories west of the lake caused Drying its feeding wells.

He believes that life will not return to the lake except through international bodies that have specialized equipment in this field, as well as the availability of the necessary funds for this work, and Iraq does not have any possibility currently.