New Strategic Water Project Opened in Duhok

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A strategic water intake project serving Khanke was put into service for citizens on Wednesday in the district of Simele, in Duhok province, giving the area a new and more secure source of drinking water.

The project was carried out with funding from the Duhok province budget and under the supervision of the surrounding area’s water directorate in Simele.

In its first phase, the project has provided drinking water to all residents of the Khanke subdistrict. The second phase will extend that supply to the entire town of Simele once a water reservoir is installed.

The project consists of a 260-meter bridge standing 4 meters high, along with a pumping unit that measures 13.5 meters in length and 24 meters in height. The unit is capable of drawing and pumping 3,400 cubic meters of water per hour.

The opening comes as the Kurdistan Regional Government advances water infrastructure across the Kurdistan Region. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani approved the launch of five strategic water projects.

They will provide clean water to Soran, Khabat, Kalar and Koya, and expand water networks serving Qandil, Pirmam and Shaqlawa.

Ari Ahmed, director general of water and sewerage in the Kurdistan Region, told Kurdistan24 on Oct. 3 that the engineering plans and studies for those projects have been completed in full, reaching 100 percent. The initiative is intended to strengthen water security in the targeted areas once the necessary financial allocations are completed.

Ahmed said work is also continuing on the third Duokan-Sulaimani water line, which has entered the implementation phase and is about 5 percent complete. The project includes two main pipelines, each 1,400 millimeters in diameter. Excavation has begun in some locations and concrete work in others, and the work camp has been fully established.

The Goptapa-Chamchamal water project has reached 45 percent completion, according to Ahmed. Provided no financial obstacles emerge, it is expected to be completed within the next seven to eight months.

Ahmed also noted that the ninth cabinet had previously allocated and implemented strategic water projects with a total cost of 1 trillion, 195 billion and 800 million dinars. Those projects were designed to produce more than 852,000 cubic meters of potable water per day and address the effects of drought across the Kurdistan Region.

With the first phase of the Khanke project now delivering water, attention turns to the reservoir that will carry drinking water to the whole of Simele, completing a project designed to serve the entire area.