BAGHDAD — Although water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have been rising as torrential rains fill some of the largest dams in Iraq, the threat of drought persists.
Turkey is now taking the necessary steps to fill its controversial Ilisu Dam, while Iran continues to cut off tributaries of the rivers flowing into Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a March 7 rally that the country will begin filling the reservoir of the dam on the Tigris River in June, despite warnings from the Iraqi government that the process will dry out large areas of the country.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, the water reservoirs contain 29 billion cubic meters, which is enough for the coming summer and winter. However, filling the Ilisu Dam will take two to three years and strategic reservoirs will be consumed, threatening Iraq’s water security. Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities have no clear means of resolving the crisis with Turkey, although it has been going on for years, peaking last year.
The Ilisu project on the Tigris in southeastern Turkey was launched in 2006. It is one of 22 dams Ankara aims to build on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The dam is 65 kilometers (45 miles) from the Iraqi border and stretches 1,820 meters (1.1 mile).
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