Iraq News Now

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Flash flooding in Iran and Iraq has claimed lives and caused widespread destruction in recent days. As both nations struggle to conserve water from cross-border river sources, the Iranian president and Iraqi prime minister held a phone call Tuesday to coordinate their response.  

Recent heavy rain has forced Iran to release water from its dams on rivers running from Iran into Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. That extra water has cascaded downstream, compelling the Iraqi government to take measures to prevent further flooding.

Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the Iraqi PM, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “stressed the significance of coordination between the ministers of water resources of both countries to face natural conditions, rains and floods in both countries by taking necessary measures,” according to a statement from Abdul-Mahdi’s office.

Rouhani said he hoped the dredging of the Shatt al-Arab, the river estuary which divides the two countries at the Persian Gulf, will be implemented soon to help protect communities from flooding.

“Cooperation and negotiation between the officials of the two countries, especially in the southern areas should be promoted,” Rouhani said, according to a statement from the presidency. 

Abdul-Mahdi offered his condolences over the death of 19 Iranian citizens in the floods.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (L) and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi held a phone call on Tuesday. Photo: Rudaw

Just a few months ago, both Iran and Iraq were complaining of the opposite problem – too little water. Failures in the development and upkeep of water conservation infrastructure like dams and reservoirs has led to chronic waste and made flooding more common.  

Jamal Al-Adli, Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources, told a press conference on Tuesday that Iraq plans to build six new dams in the Kurdistan Region in order to save more water from the winter rainfall. 

Adli said Iraq now has 32 billion cubic meters of water stored in its reservoirs – sufficient to water Iraq for the next two summers. Mosul dam, which has the capability to save 10 billion cubic meters, has alone stored eight billion on the Tigris River, despite serious concerns about its structural integrity.

Water held by the Darbandikhan dam on the Sirwan River increased by one meter in just 48 hours. 

Rahman Khani, who manages the dam, told Rudaw his engineers are in constant contact with both Erbil and Baghdad to find a place for the water released by Iran.

“Only on Monday, we saw a one thousand cubic meters increase per second,” Khani said. “We have released 600 cubic meters of the water per second and reserved the rest.”

The dam was designed to hold roughly three billion cubic meters of water. However, after cracks appeared in the dam following the November 2017 earthquake, it can now only take around two billion.

Bridges and roads across the Kurdistan Region have suffered extensive damage. Mountainous villages and camps for refugees and internally displaced people have also been waterlogged.