Background
Water availability in Iraq undergoes large annual and inter-annual fluctuations caused by factors such as variations in precipitation and temperature, and upstream and in-country water management. Various long term challenges related to water shortages and flooding have raised a new set of cross-sectoral issues with implications for Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions. However, detailed information on surface water area trends is limited. To inform the WASH Cluster in Iraq on needs for sustainable and preparedness-focused interventions, REACH conducted a comprehensive long term surface water change analysis. In general, the analysis suggests that Iraq's surface water experienced a downward trend during the years 1984-2018, while neighbouring countries experienced a surface water increase during the same timeframe.