Environment

Six billion dinars allocated to overcome water shortages in Erbil: Governor

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has built several dams and ponds to address the water crisis. Moreover, the KRG has touted that more dams and ponds will be built in the future.

Kurdistan 24 2023/07/15 18:13

Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw speaking at the press conference, July 15, 2023. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan Water shortages Water Crisis KRG Omed Khoshnaw Dam pond

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw in a presser on Saturday announced that six billion Iraqi dinars ($4.6 million) were allocated to overcome water shortages for the dry months of July, August, and September.

“We hope to overcome this dire situation this summer," the Erbil governor said at the press conference.

"The strategic way to solve the water shortage is to utilize groundwater and lay another water pipeline, which is one of the government's strategic plans. So far, several steps have been taken to resolve this issue," Khoshnaw added.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has built several dams and ponds to address the water crisis. Moreover, the KRG has touted that more dams and ponds will be built in the future.

So far, 118 ponds have been built in the Kurdistan Region on an area of 479 thousand acres with a capacity of 22.6 million cubic meters of water. The costs associated with construction reached $22 million dollars.

Also, the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources announced on July 7 that four new dams were constructed in the Kurdistan Region this year.

According to the Ninth Cabinet of the KRG, the main purposes of water conservation projects are to protect water resources, collect water for the agriculture and tourism sectors, support farmers, provide job opportunities, prevent flash floods, and increase groundwater.

Earlier in July, Kurdish officials visited Saudi Arabia with a proposal for a water treatment plant, dubbed the Ifraz 3 Project, which would hypothetically source water from the Great Zab River to the capital’s residents. Kurdish officials seek to take a "loan” from the Saudi government to implement the project, which upon its completion, will provide 25,000 cubic meters of fresh water to the capital.