Safe to drink: Iraq's water reserves assured

Shafaq News/ Iraq has enough water reserves to meet drinking needs this season and next, a senior official said on Sunday, amid falling river inflows and worsening drought conditions.

Wissam Khalaf Ubaid, head of the General Authority for Dams and Reservoirs, told Shafaq News that water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have declined sharply due to climate change, low rainfall, and reduced snowfall in upstream countries.

“The current storage is modest, but drinking water and essential use are fully secured,” he revealed, adding that Iraq is among the five nations most affected by climate change.

Ubaid noted that Ministry of Water Resources teams, trained by the US Geological Survey (USGS), now calculate snowmelt and reservoir levels in Turkiye, Syria, and Iran to help shape Iraq’s summer and winter water management plans.

The Human Rights Commission in Basra had warned of a deepening water crisis, citing high salinity, pollution, and the lack of a long-promised desalination plant.

“There is almost no equitable water distribution, especially along the Euphrates,” the commission said. It urged authorities to act swiftly, warning that ongoing neglect, paired with social unrest and drug abuse, requires “serious intervention.”

The commission also criticized delays in the Shatt al-Arab desalination project, proposed more than six years ago, saying it would have positioned Basra among Iraq’s top provinces for freshwater access.

Earlier, the head of the Iraqi Fish Producers Association warned that cheap imports and a recurring herpes virus outbreak are threatening domestic fish farming. He called for import bans and state support to protect the sector.