The world is facing serious environmental concerns as climate change accelerates, temperatures rise, and instances of drought caused by extreme-weather events multiply, all while international cooperation to address these challenges appears to wane. Facing these concerns,  The Kurdistan Region steps up to build strategic dams and enhance water-management plans. 

This harsh reality suggests that water might become more valuable than oil in the future. As a result,  many countries around the globe are rolling up their sleeves to secure water for their people’s future. 

In Iraq, drought has worsened in recent years due to record low levels of rainfall and rising temperatures. These conditions are compounded by the reduced flow of water from rivers originating in Iraq’s neighbors, as well as the lack of a comprehensive water management plan. 

In the Kurdistan Region, however, policymakers have acknowledged the pressing need for action. The regional government is now planning and building several strategic dams of different scales to secure water resources for its 6 million people, 1.7 million hectares of arable land, and 1 million hectares of forest. 

Speaking to Kurdistan Chronicle, Dr. Bewar Khinisi, a geology expert and advisor to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on energy, explained that there are 17 dams across the three provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok, with 15 more under construction. Moreover, the KRG’s current cabinet approved nine strategic dams in 2020 whose reservoir capacity varies between 50 million to 1 billion cubic meters. 

“Once they are completed, their maximum storage capacity can reach 3.5 billion cubic meters, and they can generate 950 MW of electricity,” Dr. Khinisi said. 

For the Kurdistan Region, a bold water-management roadmap can address both water scarcity and national security because of the political and economic implications of water. 

The cabinet led by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani is working hard to diversify the region’s economy to gradually reduce its reliance on oil revenues. To that end, agriculture and tourism are targeted as viable alternatives. 

These dam projects, together with the region’s 97 existing reservoirs and 25 under construction, are hoped to help promote the agriculture sector. In fact, critical steps in this sector have already been taken. The KRG exported 400 tons of its famous pomegranates to several Gulf and European countries in late 2022, marking the region’s largest non-oil export by volume in recent years. More shipments of agricultural products are in the works.

Every dam, moreover, has the potential to become a tourist attraction, especially now that the region is a primary destination for Iraqi tourists and seen as a safest and attractive one for many others from around the region and beyond. 

In 2022 alone, over 6 million tourists visited Kurdistan, according to official statistics. 

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Federal Government plans to construct 49 dams across the country, as its farms in central and southern provinces shrink with every passing year. Out of these 49 dams, 20 will be in the Kurdistan Region, according to Khinisi. 

The senior Kurdish official insists that closer cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad is essential to address the water concerns, noting that the regional and federal governments are constitutionally required to jointly manage the water resources, including those originating from inside the country or from outside its borders. 

Five major rivers pass through Kurdistan, whose total length is measured at 1,695 kilometers. Nearly 60% of these are within the borders of the Kurdistan Region, and they remain a vital source of water for not only agriculture but also for potable water for major cities like Erbil. 

However, water security is not simply bound to strategic plans in Erbil and Baghdad or the cooperation between the two governments; it also has a foreign relations dimension. Neighboring Turkey and Iran have the upper hand because two major rivers – the Tigris and Euphrates – and several minor ones flow from them into Iraq. 

Both Turkey and Iran have also launched massive dam-building projects that will affect the water flow in Iraq. 

When asked about Baghdad’s options to pressure Ankara and Tehran to consider Iraq’s share from those rivers, Khinisi said that using a diplomatic approach and finding common ground is the only option. “It’s true that Iran and Turkey are working to secure water resources for themselves, but it cannot justify limiting the flow of water downstream to their neighbors… This issue has been referred to the Iraqi Council of Ministers to be included in the agenda of diplomatic dialogues,” Khinisi added. 

Sardar Sattar is a translator and journalist based in the Kurdistan Region. He has an MA in English Studies from the University of Lodz, Poland. He has translated several books and political literature into Kurdish and English. He writes regularly for local and international newspapers and journals.