PM Al-Sudani gives the water issue a priority, making it a sovereign file

INA - BAGHDAD 

Ministry of Water Resources confirmed on Saturday, that Iraq is currently suffering from a large storage vacuum, while explaining the extent of the rain’s contribution to securing strategic storage, as PM Muhammed S. Al-Sudani gave the water issue a priority and made it a sovereign file.

"Iraq suffers from a large storage vacuum, and the increase in storage is linked to rainfall in the regions of northern Iraq, while in the rest of the country it contributes to securing irrigation, soil moistening and increasing vegetation cover," said the official spokesman for the ministry, Khalid Shamal, to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He added, "the rains that fell this season were not sufficient to contribute to filling the dams. The issue of water storage is also related to what comes to Iraq through the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, through Syria and Turkey, and the tributaries coming from Iran."

"More than 60% of Iraq's water revenues come from Turkey, and in return it works to imprison the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates in its dams, and Iraq, based on these data, is going through a period of drought, as it is the fifth most affected country in the world by climate change and drought," he noted. 

He explained that "The Ministry of Resources is waiting for the water situation during the next two months, as snow melts and quantities of water releases enter Iraq, in conjunction with the efforts of the government in which PM Al-Sudani gave the water file a priority and made it a sovereign file by opening up to the upstream countries to find solutions for the water crisis."