Salinity and Pollution plague Basra's water supply

Shafaq News/ Iraq’s southern city of Basra is facing a deepening water crisis, with rising salinity and pollution threatening both agriculture and fisheries, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) warned on Saturday.

In a statement, the IHCHR office in Basra cautioned that “high salinity levels pose a significant threat to agricultural and fishery resources,” pointing to an "almost complete absence of equitable water distribution," particularly along the Euphrates River, and “accelerating deterioration” in the Tigris.

“These challenges place the Shatt al-Arab waterway under an imminent threat,” the statement said.

The commission further noted that pollutants from other provinces and within Basra itself are worsening the situation, compounded by the prolonged absence of a long-promised desalination project.

“The mega desalination station proposed more than six years ago, which could have put Basra at the forefront in freshwater availability, remains unrealized,” it said.

The statement also expressed concern over continued negligence of the water pollution file, amid mounting social challenges including “calls for dividing Basra, the spread of deviant movements, and a surge in drug abuse,” urging “a serious pause” to address the growing threats.

The commission called on both the central and local governments to “reassess their policies toward the province, especially before entering another cycle of electoral marathons.”

The warning comes a day after the head of the Iraqi Fish Producers Association complained of increased competition from cheap imported fish and the spread of a herpes virus that is devastating local stocks. He urged the government to protect domestic production by banning imports and providing urgent solutions to the outbreak.