By 2035 Iraq will only be able to meet 15 percent of its water
needs, the United Nations has warned [photo credit: Jassim Al Asadi]
The local government, which is controlled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), is intolerant
of public displays of criticism. The residents are cognisant of this
and limit the duration of their demonstrations to avoid arrest and
retaliation by the security forces. The water shortages have become a
widely discussed topic in Erbil and fodder for opposition parties
looking to embarrass the ruling KDP. Yet it is critical to note that
this public pressure has not yet resulted in any new investment aimed at
improving or diversifying Erbil’s water supply. Thirsty residents will
likely face the same or worse conditions next year.
Residents of the Kurdistan Region’s second largest city typically
have enough water, thanks to the nearby Dukan reservoir. However they
face a different challenge in the form of water-borne illnesses. On
August 24 the local authorities announced that eight people had tested positive for cholera. Pollution from the city also flows downstream, rendering the Tanjaro River one of the most polluted waterways in Iraq. Last year residents of the town of Darbandikhan held a month-long sit-in protest demanding better quality-drinking water only to be met with promises that turned out to be empty.
The problems in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah highlight the fact that there
are no major water recycling plants in the Kurdistan Region to take greywater and sewage
and turn it into useable water. This technology is widely used in many
countries, including in the developing world, and would help to
alleviate shortages and combat pollution and disease. On several
occasions, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed agreements with foreign development agencies to build water processing plants but the plans ultimately were not implemented.
Given the obvious need, the availability of foreign assistance and the
relative simplicity of the technology involved, it is baffling that the
government seems unable to make progress.
Indeed, this is an excellent example of a pervasive conundrum
regarding development across Iraq, both in federal areas and in the
Kurdistan Region. Ordinary citizens daily face quality-of-life issues
that may (or may not) require technically complex solutions but ones
that can be understood and addressed with funding, expertise and
political will. Policy papers are drawn up, conferences are held, think
tanks think and politicians promise but in the end no progress is made.
Several years later another attempt is organised with the same result.
The problems are known, as are the solutions, but ordinary residents are
left without resolution.
In the case of Iraq’s water infrastructure, there are certainly
things that are out of the control of policymakers. The country is
extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including
prolonged droughts, desertification and increasing heat. This is a
global problem that affects Iraq in a disproportionate way.
It is nevertheless disheartening to see Iraqi and Kurdish leaders
exhibit so little ambition to confront water issues. With the country’s
vast oil wealth, one might assume that funding could be allocated for
improved water infrastructure, including water recycling. However, poor
public policy, corruption and a lack of attention divert resources. The
cost of continued delay will only increase and while wealthy elites can
secure reliable access to clean water, electricity and other services it
is ordinary Iraqis who will suffer the most as these services become
less and less available. And while most people can muddle through most
service delivery failures, water is not one of them.
Iraqi and Kurdish leaders should make serious efforts to address
water shortages and climate change. They need to invest, as a matter of
utmost urgency, in water recycling facilities and water conservation
measures. Working with global specialists and Iraq’s homegrown experts,
policymakers can and should update and implement the water management
plans that have already been developed. Specific funding should be set
aside in the budget and protected from the political fights and the
corruption that undermine country-wide public policy. These are
straightforward recommendations but given the greed and incompetence
embedded in the country’s governance structures they are likely to prove
difficult to put into practice. This is unfortunate; the alternative is
a future of ever-increasing shortages and pollution with all that that
entails: further outbreaks of water-borne diseases like cholera, rapid
agricultural decline, economic insecurity and increasing instability as
Iraq’s burgeoning population struggles to secure life-essential water.
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