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IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA, May 9 (IPS) - Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of
Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and
for irrigation.
Water supply has been hit by power failures. The central pumping station has been
running short of electricity supply over the last two years.
The pumping station is located between two districts in conflict - Hwaider, which is
predominantly Shia, and Jupenat, mostly Sunni. For two years now, fighting between
Sunnis and Shias here has led to reduced water supply.
"The Diyala river passes by the two villages before the pumping station," resident Zuhair
Mahmood told IPS. "They try to change its stream to deprive the other of water for
irrigating their farms. The diversions mean relatively little water can reach the station."
Often, Mahmood added, "farmers irrigate their farms by setting up pumps on the banks of
the river, which further contributes to reduced supply to the station."
Some farmers have demanded that the pumping station be supplied directly from the
Diyala river upstream of the conflict area.
"But this suggestion was rejected because people know that the Diyala river carries the
bodies of those killed in the sectarian fighting," said Abdul-Qadir Omran, a now
unemployed trader. "It is not good for drinking, and psychologically it is unacceptable."
People of Baquba are used to seeing bodies floating by in the Diyala river, and have long
since ceased to use water from the river or fish in it.
Rising summer temperatures have made these problems worse. Many families like to use
air coolers that rely heavily on water. Without some cooling it is difficult to sleep through
the heat.
"Air coolers can be operated by simple generators, while air conditioners need high
electricity, and there is a problem with the electricity," Nasir Jacob, an employee with the
Diyala province water authority told IPS. "People prefer to use all available water for
cooling, more than even for a bath; forget washing cars or watering our gardens."
"With the tremendous need for water in summer, pumping may not be sufficient for all
residents," Mohammed Abid, father of a large family, told IPS. "Many families spend whole
nights waiting for piped water in order to fill their holding tank."
Some have dug their own wells but this brings its own problems, an engineer at the
directorate-general of water for the city told IPS on condition of anonymity.
"Water from these wells may be mixed with sewage water," he said. "Our towns and
villages have no sewage networks, and even if they exist, they are not systematic." Locally
discharged sewage often seeps into the water reserves below.
In the face of the water shortage, many farms and orchards are now desolate, and their
owners jobless. Iraq now has to import food and vegetables, adding to the difficulties of
local farmers.
According to an Oxfam report released last July, 70 percent of Iraqis do not have access to
safe drinking water.
Inevitably, people ask why the occupation forces have not cared to ensure water and
electricity supply. Just as inevitably, they get no answers.
(*Ahmed, our correspondent in Iraq's Diyala province, works in close collaboration with
Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who has reported extensively from
Iraq and the Middle East.) (END/2008)
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