Iraq’s Water Crisis Growing Worse By The Month

 

Every week brings more bad news about Iraq’s water crisis. Four years of low rainfall and decreasing flows down the Tigris and Euphrates River have put the country on the brink of disaster. The government has failed to respond because it only gives lip service to caring about the public.

 

The Water Ministry just announced that Iraq’s water levels continue to decline. It is receiving less than 30% of its water entitlements from its neighbors. More than 70% of its water comes from other countries namely Turkey, Iran and Syria. Water storage is down to below 6%. It was at 8% in September.

 

The Iraqi Green Observatory told the press that Iraq is facing the worst drought in 90 years. The situation has spread from the south to the rest of the country. Sulaymaniya province in Kurdistan for instance has lost more than 60% of water from rivers as well as low rainfall.

 

Protests and displacement are growing as a result. On November 1 farmers in Muthanna, Najaf, Karbala, Diwaniya and Wasit took to the streets over losing crops due to lack of water. They threatened to boycott the November election unless the government did something. A parliamentarian noted in September that 24,500 families had left their homes due to climate change.

 

There are all kinds of other consequences. Green Vision in Iraq found that the nation has lost 1 million trees in the last two years. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights reported that the lack of clean water along with waste and sewage being dumped into the Tigris and Euphrates is spreading diseases such as cholera and typhoid. An article by Agence France Presse said that livestock is being killed by high salinity in the water in Basra. The decline in fresh water has raised salt and pollution in south Iraq. In September salinity levels in central Basra were 29,000 parts per million versus just 2,600 in 2024. Parliament’s agriculture and water committee warned that there had been a 70% decline in livestock, farm products disappearing, fisheries were down and wetlands were drying up killing off the wildlife that lived there.

 

The government has responded two ways. The first is that it has been in talks with Turkey for years to get more water released down the Tigris and Euphrates. In July a deal was announced but it only lasted for two months. In September another agreement was made. Non-government organizations have repeatedly said that Ankara has never fully complied with its promises. Second it has started a number of water development projects. Many of these have failed to deliver as well. Some were never completed due to mismanagement. Others are exploited by officials that steal the funds. This is common with many projects in Iraq due to the lack of qualified staff, bad planning and widespread corruption.

 

Overall, the authorities have not made this a priority because it does not affect them. The elite live separate from the common people. They believe the people should be subservient because they rely upon the government for jobs and services rather than feeling they should serve the public. That means the water crisis will only get worse.

 

SOURCES

 

Al Aalem, “Ministers questioned over drought: Parliament faces water scarcity crisis,” 9/16/25

 

Agence France Presse, “Water salinity hurting farmers, livestock in Iraq,” 10/17/25

 

Bas News, “Rights Group Warns of ‘Imminent Humanitarian Catastrophe’ Over Iraq’s Water Crisis,” 9/15/25

- “Turkey Pledges to Increase Water Releases to Iraq,” 9/19/25

 

Kurdistan 24, “Iraq Parliament warns of worsening water and agriculture crisis,” 10/30/25

 

Al Mada, “The Green Observatory warns: Iraq faces its worst drought in 90 years and a new “deception” looms,” 11/2/25

- “Millions Wasted in the Name of Climate: FAO Projects Fail to Save the Marshes, and Farmers Face Drought and Migration,” 10/20/25

- “Unprecedented drought in Kurdistan … All eyes await the arrival of autumn rains,” 9/2/25

 

Al Masalah, “Iraq is growing in a water disaster … Turkey is trading water for oil,” 9/7/25

 

Rudaw, “Iraq lost one million trees in two years, environmentalists say,” 9/14/25

- “Iraq warns of water scarcity as reserves drop to under 6%,” 11/2/25

- “Iraq’s water storage hits historic 8” low as crisis deepens: Spox,” 9/16/25