- Title: How Iraq's agriculture heartland is dying of thirst
- Date: 25th July 2018
- Summary: RABI'A, NINEVEH PROVINCE, IRAQ (MAY 2, 2018) (REUTERS) MOSUL DAM LAKE TRACTOR IN ARABLE LAND MOSUL DAM LAKE SIGN READING (Arabic) "WATER RESOURCES MINISTRY, IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE DEPARTMENT" / "NORTH AL-JAZEERA IRRIGATION SYSTEM" SUPERVISOR OF NORTH AL-JAZEERA IRRIGATION SYSTEM, ASSEM ABDEL RAHMAN, TRAVELLING DOWN TUNNEL INTO FACILITY VARIOUS OF EQUIPMENT INSIDE FACILITY
- Embargoed: 8th August 2018 14:35
- Keywords: Mosul Dam lake North Al Jazeera irrigation system farmers Iraq Nineveh Province Bazwaya wheat irrigation canal
- Location: QARAQOSH TOWN, BAZWAYA, RABI'A, NINEVEH PROVINCE, IRAQ
- City: QARAQOSH TOWN, BAZWAYA, RABI'A, NINEVEH PROVINCE, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Environment,Precipitation
- Reuters ID: LVA0018Q8YDDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One day in June, a giant irrigation pump deep in the Mosul Dam Lake sputtered briefly into life. The successful test brought a rare moment of celebration for the facility's supervisor, Assem Abdel Rahman, and his small team of engineers from Iraq's Water Resources Ministry.
The pump had lain idle since 2014, when Islamic State fighters swept into Nineveh, then a lush province capable of producing almost a quarter of Iraq's wheat. When Iraqi forces and their allies drove out the militants three years later, the pump was out of action and the irrigation canals it supplied were in ruins. That June test showed there was hope for the pump, at least.
Getting the pump to work is only a beginning. This year the rains failed, too, and a new Turkish dam threatens to reduce flows from the Tigris River into the Mosul Dam Lake. Nineveh is becoming a dust bowl, and farmers, who came home after Islamic State fled, say they feel abandoned by Iraq's leaders.
Iraq is a country overwhelmed by the cost of rebuilding from its war with Islamic State and struggling with water shortages that have led to street protests this year. Much of the city of Mosul, 30 km to the northwest of Qaraqosh, is still rubble more than a year after the militants were expelled. In Iraq's long-neglected south, there have been angry demonstrations over water shortages. The government has promised to release funds to help. It estimates the total cost of Iraq's reconstruction at $88 billion (£66.9 billion).
Nineveh's farmers say for them time is running out. In interviews, a dozen farmers and grain traders said government wheat production forecasts for 2018 were hopelessly optimistic. Some farmers said they were considering leaving the land. Others have joined local militias to get a regular wage.
The pump in the Mosul Dam Lake sits at the start of the North Al-Jazeera irrigation system, built three decades ago on the order of Saddam Hussein. Abdel Rahman has worked there since the beginning. North Al-Jazeera was part of an ambitious irrigation project, the biggest at the time in the Arab world, that was to include a southern and eastern facility. Had it been completed, it would have watered 250,000 hectares of the Al Jazeera plain.
Working as a standalone, the north pump provided thousands of farmers with a steady supply of water, enabling them to grow summer vegetables and winter grains. The irrigation system reached 60,000 hectares of land, around a quarter of Nineveh's potentially fertile land.
In the summer of 2014, Islamic State fighters arrived, and Abdel Rahman fled to the safety of Erbil, in Kurdish northern Iraq. He said the militants tried to make the pump work but they didn't know what they were doing and damaged the equipment. Fighters looted cables from the station, and most of North Al-Jazeera's smaller subsidiary pumps, bridges and canals were wrecked in the battle for Nineveh that started in 2016. When that conflict subsided, another threatened: The pump sits in territory also claimed by Iraq's Kurds. In Oct. 2017, Iraqi forces launched another offensive and took back control of the area.
When the fighting stopped, Abdel Rahman was eager to resume his work. But he found a scene of destruction. One hundred of the irrigation system's 280 canals are still out of commission, according to the United Nations. Many are filled with debris and explosives planted by the militants in an attempt to keep government forces at bay. Thirty of the 38 metal bridges have been blown up and 800 sections of elevated canal have been destroyed.
The U.N. set about fixing North Al-Jazeera with the help of international donors. The cost is estimated at over $9 million, excluding repairs to a local factory that manufactured components for the pipes. Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources has cooperated with the U.N. on technical details but hasn't allocated any of its own funds to the effort. Ministry adviser Zafer Abdullah said the North Al-Jazeera project needed a large budget and the ministry was prioritising "needs that touch people's everyday lives."
The first phase of repairs - demining, restoring power and fixing the main pumping station - is due to be completed by the end of 2018. The U.N. says more work will be needed to get water flowing to the subsidiary pumps and into the network of canals. "Within two years or so we hope to have it functional," said the FAO's Iraq representative Zubi.
Tahseen Hussein was until recently the director of one of the four silo complexes, Bazwaya, which can hold up to 250,000 tonnes of wheat. The Grain Board set a target of 92,000 tonnes for the Bazwaya facility this year but Hussein estimated it will get only half that amount, blaming the drought. On a morning in June two weeks into buying season, roughly 20 trucks were lined up outside Bazwaya, loaded with wheat to be tested and sold. Usually at this time of year there would be several hundred trucks, farmers, traders and a silo worker said. They said much of the wheat was from Kurdish areas, where there were fewer ready buyers. "There is barely any wheat anywhere in this area," said Abosh, the Qaraqosh farmer.
Around an hour and a half drive from Bazwaya are the Waeliya silos. The facility was built in 1989 to hold up to 180,000 tonnes of wheat. Today it is deserted, damaged by air strikes during the battle for Nineveh. Nowadays, only a guard and stray dogs greet visitors. On the paths between the silos, white flags mark the spots where landmines have been removed, while red flags warn of danger. Birds flock through holes in the walls and ceilings.
Around 70 percent of Iraq's water flows from neighbouring countries, most of it along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The Euphrates is already heavily dammed in Syria and Turkey. The Tigris pours into the Mosul Dam Lake.
Abdel Rahman remains optimistic. The successful test on the pump has given him hope. The South Korean contractor that built the irrigation project gave the equipment a lifespan of 25 years. He says he's proud of maintaining it well beyond that.
"Once it is working again, you will see what we can have here," he said. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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