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Dams

As a steward of the water resources in Iraq, The Ministry of Water Resources has undertaken the task of dams construction in Iraq since 1958 when the first concrete dam ( Dokan Dam) was constructed on the Lower Zab.

The dams located on rivers, watercourses and valleys are of great advantages. They are constructed to control flood and utilize the stored water for agriculture, drinking, electricity generation (which is a clean energy and does not inflict any harm or pollution to the environment) and tourism development through creating an attractive and comfortable locations for residents and citizens who wish to be present there for tourism and leisure. Dams also help improve the environment, climate in the areas surrounding their lakes, as well as, improving the agricultural condition and the living situation for people through providing them with job opportunities in the Dam Project. Furthermore,

The Ministry of Water Resources is working on developing this task through the continuous construction of dams on the rivers, their tributaries and watercourses to achieve the aforementioned goals. The construction of dams comes as a result of the water decline in the rivers Tigris, Euphrates and their tributaries due to the construction of dams by the riparian countries (Turkey, Syria and Iran) on these rivers inside their territories which has led to water deterioration in quality and quantity inside Iraq.

Water shortage and drought are fundamental motivations for the construction of dams. Dams importance can be seen through controlling the stored water, they store access water in flood seasons and release it in drought seasons. Accordingly, Iraq should have a sufficient number of dams to store the required quantities of water.

Drought has drastically increased as a result of actions taken by the riparian countries that utilize water inside their territories for their own benefits. This has led to a deterioration in the quality and quantity of water flows into Iraq which eventually led to thinking of constructing reservoirs on the permanent and seasonable watercourses to utilize water in drought seasons. As a consequence, the Ministry of Water Resources laid down a strategy to construct large and small dams in different areas in Iraq to save and control the available quantities of water and use it properly.

Dams are of several types: Concrete, stony, earth fill with mud core or compacted concrete. Dams have spillway to discharge the excess water that raises above the maximum storage level of the dam.

Large Dams Constructed in Iraq

In addition to the aforementioned large dams, there are a number of constructed and under construction small dams located in Kurdistan Region, the eastern region and the western desert.

Barrages

The barrage is one of the important engineering structures which are constructed on rivers, its tributaries or branches. It`s upstream is used for storing water to provide it to a number of regulators branching from its upstream. The barrage has several openings separated by structures called piers. Soil type should be taken into consideration when constructing a barrage. Some barrages have navigation lock and fish passage especially in the navigational rivers because the construction of the barrage prevents fish passing.

In the construction of a barrage, the maximum discharge should be taken into account so that a sufficient quantity of water is provided for the irrigation projects located at the barrage upstream or at the barrage downstream. The foundation of the barrage is constructed with concrete or reinforced concrete to resist the velocity of water flowing into its openings because water velocity inside the barrage is higher than what it is in the river due to the existence of piers and shrinkage of the river`s width and this requires taking precautions to treat erosion in the downstream of the barrages.

Some barrages have hydropower stations. These stations are used when there are differences between the upstream and downstream levels, this can be seen in Samara Barrage on the Tigris River which has a hydropower station with a generation power of 75 megawatt, Hindiya Barrage which has a hydropower station with a generation power of 15 megawatt in addition to a small hydropower station on Kufa Barrage on the Euphrates River with a generation power of 5 megawatt.

Barrages on the Tigris River and its tributaries

• Debbis Barrage is located on the Lower Zab River and is used for regulating the water of the Zab as well as raising its level for Kirkuk Irrigation Project.
• Diyala Weir is located on Diyala River to provide water for the projects which are located on Diyala River downstream.
• Samara Barrage is located on the Tigris River. Al-Tharthar Regulator and the regulator of Al-Eshaqi Irrigation Project are branched off its upstream.
• Al-Kut Barrage is located on the Tigris River. Shatt Al-Gharraf and Dijela Irrigation Regulator are branched off its upstream
• Al-Amara Barrage is located on the Tigris River. Al-Biterah, Al-Musharah, Al-Areedh and Al-Kahlaa regulators are branched off its upstream.

Barrages on the Euphrates River

• Al-Ramadi Barrage is located in Al-Ramadi City.
• Al-Fallujah Barrage is located 5 km away from the south of Fallujah City.
• Al-Hindiya Barrage is located 1700 m away from the old barrage upstream.
• Al-Kufa Barrage is located in Al-Kufa City.
• Al-Abbasiya Barrage is located on Shatt Al-Abbasiya.

Regulators

All types of regulators whether the main, branch, cross or tail are considered important structures within the irrigation project. They are usually constructed on the head of irrigation canals or at the barrages` upstream on the rivers, their tributaries and branches.

The regulator is designed according to the discharges quantities passing through it. The regulator is constructed with concrete or reinforced concrete and its foundation is designed to withstand water pressure passing through the openings. The openings are separated by structures called regulator`s piers on which the road constructed over the regulator is based. The piers are constructed with concrete or reinforced concrete to withstand water pressure. These piers have different shapes to resist water pressure passing through the regulator.

The regulator has one or several openings and each opening has an iron gate sliding into a slot inside the piers or the support wall. These gates are divided into two types: radial and flat iron. The regulator has a bridge for pedestrian or for vehicles constructed on the regulator and has a device used for lifting the gates either manually or electrically and as required.

The regulator is operated according to the required quantities of water to distribute it to the branch canals in accordance with the requirements of the irrigation projects.

The total number of regulators in the irrigation projects is 2351 and they are of different types: Main, branch, cross and tail regulators distributed across Iraq. There are also 49 large regulators branched from the Tigris and Euphrates River, their tributaries and branches such as: Al-Tharthar regulator in Samara, Al-Warrar Regulator within Al-Habbaniya Project and other regulators that take their water from a number of barrages such as: Samara and Diyala Barrages on Diyala River, Al-Kut and Al-Amara Barrages on the Tigris River, Al-Ramadi, Al-Fallujah and Al-Hindiya Barrages on the Euphrates River.

Valuing Vital Resources Linkages and lessons in energy, water and food pricing

A Chatham House expert workshop

(Royal Institute of International Affairs)

16-17 September 2013 / London

Policies affecting food and water use and the experience with charging for irrigated water

Presentation by:

Dr. Latif Rashid

Senior Advisor to the Iraqi President

Former Minister of Water Resources

Greetings and thanking organizers and the chairperson for the opportunity to speak on water and food security.

Global perspective:

Water is the most abundant source on earth covering 75% of its surface. Yet more than one billion people don’t have access to clean water due to un-even distribution, mismanagement and pollution.

Main Points

1. Conflicts on water control, water sharing or management are relatively a new phenomenon. The fact that nearly two third of fresh water in world’s rivers are flowing across the borders of more than one country is a seed for conflict. From our experience in Iraq, solutions should be based on negotiations, technical approaches and population need, rather than talk on using force or by impulsive decisions.

2. High population growth, over- control on the resource by establishing major infrastructures, environmental concerns and competing demands by various economic sectors within and between riparian countries, are causes for conflicts. In the absence of mutually agreed conflict resolution mechanisms, such as water sharing agreement between nations, conflict over water is a threat to peace and stability.

Water and Food Security

3. The basic ingredients of life are water and food. If there is water, people are more likely to produce more food and have a better life. On the contrary, water scarcity is the main cause of hunger and poverty.

4. Water Security has no formal definition but the description in the Ministerial Declaration of the 2nd World Water Forum in the Hague in 2000 is widely acceptable.

It says that water security means: “… ensuring that freshwater, coastal and related ecosystems are protected and improved; that sustainable development and political stability are promoted, that every person has access to enough safe water at an affordable cost to lead a healthy and productive life, and that the vulnerable are protected from the risks of water-related hazards”.

Ministerial Declaration of the 2nd WWF in the Hague in 2000.

5. However, the definition of Food Security has been agreed upon by world leaders on many occasions, particularly during the Food Summits organized by FAO. It says that “Food Security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

6. Food security is not a luxurious demand but is a basic human need. Nothing so painful like an empty stomach or starving children because they have no means of getting even one meal a day. Lack of water can cause this tragic human suffering.

7. Every human being has the right to secure or produce his own food; and having access to water is the key to ensur that.

The irrigation technique, although it may be damaging to the environment some time, is the most profound human practice to ensure food production. . Irrigation can increase soil productivity by 100 to 400 times! This is why ensuring access to water is so vital.

Focus on Iraq

8. Iraq is a downstream country in the great Mesopotamian valley. Historically, all the water yield in the Tigris-Euphrates basin was flowing to Iraq.

9. Hydropower design capacity in Iraq’s dams and barrages is about 2500 MW. It used to represent about 25% of Iraq’s need in the 1990s.

10. Unfortunately, due to war destruction and the decline in water inflows, as a result of intensive dam construction programs in Turkey and Syria, Iraq could only produce about 30% of the installed design capacity in the last 10 years and hydropower is getting marginalized further. This will be clearly felt after the completion of the Turkish Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River reducing the inflows to Mosul Dam by at least 50% of the yearly average.

11. Starting in late 1970s, neighboring countries embarked on major dam building “revolution” creating hydrological conditions that have never existed in the past.

12. In the Euphrates river, the decline of inflows reached alarming levels during the impoundments of the constructed dams of Kiban, Kerekaya, Ataturk dams in Turkey and equally the Tabqa dam in Syria.

13. The damming and diversion of waters in the Karkha and Karun rivers in Iran resulted in tragic decline in water quality and therefore environmental and wetlands services in Shaat Al- Arab and southern Iraq.

14. As Iraq agriculture is a primarily irrigated agriculture, the impact of declining water resources on food security, particularly the locally produced food stuff, has been significant.

15. In the mean-time and as food production in Iraq degraded, Iraq’s borders were made widely open for unlimited import of all kinds of food stuff from neighboring countries depriving Iraqi agriculture from fair competition and further comprising food security in the country.

16. FAO estimates that 20-30% of the cost of the food on the table is related to power.

In Iraq we should probably double this estimate as power in Iraq has been extremely expensive especially in the field of agricultural production due to war destruction and the inability of the authorities to resolve the electricity crisis in the country despite spending nearly $30 billions since 2003.

17. Iraq is a good example of the so-called Water, Food and Energy Nexus. They are interconnected to a very large extent and Iraq’s most recent history is an illustration of the linkages between them. This is true not only on the production side, where food production is totally dependent on water availability and both are directly impacted by the availability of energy (or the lack of it), but also on the consumption side where Iraq could afford

to subsidize the very costly Public Distribution System (PDS), or what we call (Bitaqa Tamwiniya) using the oil revenue money. Although personally I urge the Iraqi government to radically review the PDS program, I do believe that millions of poor and hungry Iraqis benefited from the program.

18. Water security in Iraq depends on a few issues, of which the most important are:

The region has a population of about 15% of the world population and the fresh water quantity is about 1% of the world water.

The suitable agriculture area in the world is about 2.7 Billion.ha, only about 1.5 Billion.ha is utilized for production and only about 2.5% world water is fresh water and 0.4% of it as surface water.

19. Water sharing agreements with neighboring countries, particularly Turkey and Iran to ensure accessibility in time and space because irrigated agriculture in Iraq is the main source of food. If the concerned countries are unable to solve the issue, Iraq is ready to accept international mediation where neutral third party services could be utilized. A road map to achieve proper water sharing agreements.

20. Managing sustainably the water resources available through the application of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices with provisions for environmental and ecosystems protection policies. Obviously climate, rainfall, snowfall and drought have serious effects.

21. Develop long term strategy for water reforms and water management under long lasting water scarcity conditions, whether it is due to climate change impact or water management and operational plans of riparian countries.

22. Charges and fees for water use: Water charges in Iraq started well before 2003. It was 500ID to 2500 per donme (2500 m2) depending on the type of irrigation. An effort was made to collect during 2004 and 2005 with great

difficulty at less than 50% of the administration cost. During 2006 a request was sent to the council of Ministers to postpone the collection until further notice and this postponement is still in existence.

23. Iraq is taking serious steps toward establishing a National Water Council to consolidate the water sector, introduce and implement radical water reforms in the country.

24. Finally, Iraq is a forward looking country and it prefers dialogue and benefits sharing mutually accepted and negotiated settlements to water issues to achieve its water and food security.

Valuing Vital Resources: Food, Water and Energy Cost and Policy Options in Gulf.

A workshop jointly convened between a Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs)
and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS

17-18 December 2013 / Kuwait

Policies affecting food and water use and the experience with charging for irrigated water

Presentation by:

Dr. Latif Rashid

Senior Advisor to the Iraqi President

Former Minister of Water Resources

December 2013

Iraq is a good example of the so-called Water, Food and Energy Nexus. They are strongly interconnected both on the production and the consumption sides. The stresses on these resources now seriously impact on stability. In particular, there is growing risk of conflict over control over scarce water sources due to poor or non-existent trans-boundary cooperation and high population growth.

The lack of an internationally agreed upon definition of water security is problematic for Iraq. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s definition of food security has been generally agreed upon worldwide but the link between access to water and ability to achieve food security has not. For example, irrigation can increase soil productivity by 100 to 400 times.

As Iraq’s agriculture is a primarily irrigated agriculture, the impact of declining water resources from damming and diversion of waters in Turkey, Syria and Iran on food security - particularly subsistence agriculture - has been significant. Likewise, the FAO estimates that 20-30% of the cost of the food on the table is related to power but in Iraq, this may be as much as double given the destruction of power facilities and infrastructure through war and the expensive failures of government to solve chronic power shortages in the country.

Iraq faces critical water security issues. While the region (Middle East) has about 15% of the world’s population, fresh water availability is only 1% of the world total. Water availability is also highly seasonal. 75% of river flows are available between the months of February – June, while only 10% is available during the period of maximum irrigation demand between July and October.

Where agriculture constitutes 87% of water use, this limited availability of water creates acute stresses on water supply.

Agriculture must also compete with demands for flood control, municipal and industrial water supply, hydropower, and environmental restoration. As a consequence, Iraq’s water insecurity is inexorably linked with issues of food and energy security which vividly illustrate the “water, food, and energy nexus”. As a downstream country, Iraq has been adversely affected by dam construction projects since the 1970s in neighbouring countries further upstream. The Iran-Iraq war and the 2003 Anglo-American invasion have also taken their toll on Iraq’s hydro sector and irrigation infrastructures. Whereas hydropower used to represent about 25% of Iraq’s electricity needs in the 1990s, it has only been able to operate at 30% of its design capacity over the past 10 years. Climate change and increasing water use by the upstream riparian states is likely to further decrease output from existing plants although there are some plans for new ones.

The upstream damming and diversion of water has also adversely affected Iraqi agriculture by reducing the amount of water available for more intensive irrigation. Iraq should be able to double its food production but is presently unable to due to the reduced availability of power and water.

Moreover, this reduced availability is also felt on the consumption side. This has resulted in the costly “Public Distribution System” (Bitaqa Tamwiniya) to subsidize food production through oil revenue. This initially benefitted the poorer families during the early post-war period but has since become inefficient and urgently needs reform. The reasons for inefficient PDS are:

Rules and regulation related to purchasing food items.

Lack of proper logistics such as transportation and modern storage capacities.

Security situation in certain areas.

Recommendation to improve the system will not be easy. An alternative to PDS will be to reduce the PDS and concentrate on the groups with low standard of living. Compensate these groups of population with cash subsidy similar to social security system.

The Government of Iraq has pursued several initiatives to address its water security issues.

Charges for water use amongst farmers were imposed by the government in 1995 and it was specified in 2004. The fees for irrigated water varied from 500 Iraqi diners (ID) to 2500 ID per donme (2500 m2) depending on type of irrigation used. The programme was administered by the staff of the Ministry of Water Resources. The method of irrigation and further recommendations to farmers such as agricultural extension and new methods of irrigation are administered by the Ministry of Agriculture. The overall system has to be improved before cost effective collection is made and process of metering introduced. The authorities made an effort between 2004-2005 to collect fees but the total fees collected amounted to under half of the cost of the programme’s administration. In 2006, the Council of Ministers agreed to postpone the programme until further notice.

Second, Iraq has taken steps to establish a National Water Council to consolidate the water sector and develop a long-term strategy for water reforms and water management. Finally, Iraq is keen to engage in water-sharing agreements with neighbouring countries, particularly Iran and Turkey, to ensure the accessibility of water resources for Iraq’s agricultural and power sectors across time and space. The two need to be coordinated because Iraq’s long term strategy for water reforms and water management need be informed by the water demand projections and management plans of the other riparian states.

Energy is one of the main ingredients for a developed society and is to be used by all segments of the society. It is the life-blood of daily life. Without it factories would grind to a halt, computers would not operate and our homes would be without heat and light. To understand energy we need to know the source and limitations.

To put a new energy policy in place it is essential to understand the characteristics of supply versus demand for the future. We should know the quantities of energy available from the various sources, the permanency and the continuity.

Answers to these questions are not easy because they depend on the future ability and technology to extract the various sources of energy supplies, energy prices and the quantities to be consumed.

At the moment, the main sources of energy are:

1. Fossil fuels (extracted from underground) such as coal, oil and natural gas, that supply up to 90% of the energy used today.

Because these sources of energy are not sustainable and are being rapidly depleted, in addition to its related pollution and the fight against global warming, the world is vigorously looking for alternative sources of energy.

2. Hydro-Electric, from water falls, dams or water regulators and other mechanical devices.
3. Solar Energy, using photo-voltaic solar panels to convert heat from the sun directly into electricity.
4. Geothermal Energy, using ground heat and under-ground hot water springs to generate electricity.
5. Biomass or Biofuel or Ethanol, using animal waste, or agricultural products and waste.
6. Nuclear Energy, Produced from the process of nuclear fission.
7. Hydrogen Gas, which is expected to be the energy source of the future, since it is being generated from water and the abundant supplies of water.

The two fundamental energy classifications based upon the continuity of its supply are:

1. Conventional Energy, including coal, oil, natural gas and chemical materials. (These are considered to be non-sustainable energy supplies because they cannot be made or reused in the short term); and
2. Renewable Energy, including wind energy, solar energy, water energy, geothermal energy and naturally occurring material. (These are considered to be sustainable energy supplies as they can not be depleted).

It is believed that conventional energy sources (oil, gas and coal) will not diminish in the first half of this century, since underground reserves are sufficient to meet world demand for the next several decades. If these recoverable reserves were depleted then we could turn to the non-conventional, renewable energy sources.

Additionally, it must be stated that world coal reserves are abundant, but coal is the most polluting conventional energy source and environmental consideration may limit the use of coal as an energy source in the future. However, efforts had been and are being made to achieve clean-coal technology, including coal gasification. And if this proves to be economically viable, then coal may prove to be the fossil fuel for the long term future.

The ever increasing demand for oil, together with the associated increase in its price, and the realization that oil was a significant source of environmental pollution, obliged the world to think about new alternative sources of energy.

Since the beginning of the 20^th Century the use of water energy which improves the construction of dams had flourished where several countries all over the world are building dams to produce their electricity. Dams have been popular where necessary water resources are readily available and because they are easy to control, they produce minimum pollution, as well as its low electricity production cost. Limitations on the availability of energy from dams made professionals think about other sources of energy supply.

In North America, Europe and China nuclear energy became a new source of electricity generation becoming a competitor to oil fired electricity generation. However, hydro-electric generation still represents a main source of electricity supply that satisfies 18% of the world`s electricity demand in the year 2002.

Hydro-electric generation plants are considered a very important source of energy for the long term future, and this is a sustainable source of energy. It is expected to be a growing source of energy, with a faster growth in the upcoming years.

Serious interest in renewable energy sources started in the year 2003, following increases in the price of oil. In the industrialized countries, energy from renewable sources reached 6% of the whole energy market. It is expected that in Europe this will reach more than 8% by 2010.

Middle East Countries, Iraq in particular, looked to use solar energy, but this is still of a very limited use at the present time, because of slow technical development. In addition, its use has been limited in the Arab world from warming water in some countries, like Jordan, to generating electricity via photo-voltaic cells in others.

The consequence of supplying energy from geothermal sources and the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in most of the Arab countries have limited the economic development of Solar Energy in the region.

Many attempts have been made to build electricity generation stations working on solar energy using clusters of mirrors. However, this process is in the early stage of technical development and remains economically suspect in the Arab countries, at least for the time being. Since the Arab countries are rich in oil and gas resources, the use of solar energy source is not considered serious candidate in the near future, probably until the year 2020.

Energy from geothermal, ocean and biofuel sources is also limited for the foreseeable future, due to restrictions on agricultural development and the lack of available water sources in the Arab countries.

Some Arab countries like (Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Jordan) started using wind energy commercially. Wind energy farms are built in Egypt, Syria and also in Morocco. The price of producing electricity from wind energy is commercially competitive with the price of electricity produced from geothermal and nuclear sources.

The opportunity to produce wind energy in the Arab world will not be significant in the near future, due to the availability of natural gas in most of the Arab countries, and in big quantities, with a low discovery and development costs. This made electricity generation from natural gas a much cheaper option, especially when compared to wind energy sources, which suffer from intermittent service and few other negative effects, such as the availability of appropriate large land areas. That is why wind energy, in spite of its increasing popularity in the world, still have limited market penetration in the Arab countries.

Many European countries, especially those who are members of the EU, have taken some actions to reduce carbon emissions from large combustion plants through taxes, which prompted the introduction of a carbon trading system.

All this is structured to provide needed support to industrial companies that reduce its carbon footprint, to encourage energy efficiency initiatives and the use of alternative, lower carbon energies by such companies. The most active countries in this field are in Scandinavia, England and Germany. The British government has taken some steps like:

1. Climate change taxes.
2. Carbon taxes.
3. Energy and cost of oil taxes.

All of the evidence indicates that other forms of renewable energy will not have a great role to play in the future of energy supplies over the near term because of the availability of big quantities of geothermal energy, which can meet the demands of the world in this century. The difficulties that arise with renewable energy technology is its limited availability and the high cost of development.

There is some utilization of renewable energy like in the supply of electricity to rural and / or poor areas in remote locations. The cost of generating electricity from renewable energy sources is being continuously reduced, but the problem is that some sources of renewable energy, such as wind energy, cannot be supplied on a continuous basis, due to the very nature of nature.

Renewable Energy Internationally

All of the sources of renewable energy (water energy, solar energy, wind energy, biofuel energy and geothermal energy) make a big contribution to world energy needs. Water and biofuel energy contribute about 15.2% of world energy demands.

Producing electricity from water energy was about 3000 terawatt per hour in the year 2003. This is less than electricity produced from nuclear energy. This is equal to about 250 MW out of oil in a year, which supplies about 640-680 MW. In theory, the ability to produce energy from water internationally is about 14000 terawatt a year, which is equal to the electricity produced in the world now.

The use of water as a renewable energy source is continually developing as it is one of the most important energy sources, because it is clean, has low operation costs and 100% availability (availability of geothermal and nuclear energy is about 33% only). In the next few years it is expected that the development of water energy sources will grow faster internationally.

Other renewable energy resources, except for water energy, include biomass. The traditional sources of biomass include timber as a fuel, plus animal waste, plus agricultural and forest surplus.

Due to the limited accurate data being available, it has made it difficult to estimate the share that this source of energy has versus all sources of energy for the international market. But it estimated that the world consumed about 110-1250 MW per year out of biomass at the end of the 20^th century. A third of this was from timber and the rest was from animal and agricultural products and waste.

Most of this production is constant and continuous. There is a big gap in the market to promote the use of this energy source in the future, which is too low these days.

There is no expectation that biomass will be a major energy source to supply the world with power in the future, but it will stay as a main source for power in the under-developed, poor countries. The wide need for power in these countries will push for the gradual change from biomass to commercial power in many of these countries with limited income.

Biomass technology and its application are developing quickly now. We can change with the direct burning, fermentation and other technologies to use biomass energy as a continuous source of energy for the future.

Wind energy supplies can also grow quickly. Wind energy and its role in producing electricity is growing quickly on a world scale, at the rate of 13% a year, but this is from a very humble base historically. Wind energy provided less than 65 Terawatt in the year 2005, so the participation in the use of wind for energy generation is still limited.

For the future, we expect wind energy will reach 930 Terawatt in 2030, which will be 3% of the total electricity production at that time. The planned annual investments for developing wind energy are 7 billion USD, most of which will be in Germany. Germany has wind energy farms with 1700 MW of generating capacity, which means that 4% of German electricity is produced from wind now.

The aim is to situate the new electricity wind stations in the waters off-shore because of the nature of the winds there and to avoid sound pollution. However, the cost of offshore wind generation is high which has a negative impact on the wind energy economics.

Progress and Policies in renewable Energy

Taking care of energy issues began seriously after the oil price correction at the end of 2003. However, security supply of energy resources was the subject of great debate and research during the nineteen eighties, especially in the USA. But this situation has retreated since the nineties.

The European countries began to consider technology achieving more than their historical concentration on pure research. The OECD, the European countries, production of renewable energy such as; electricity, heat, etc, is 2500THW which is 6% of total energy, with half of this energy being produced by water energy.

The progress of the European Union countries was clear by limiting these countries aims, with the reduction of CO2 emissions being the main focus, which resulted in renewable energy being the most important focus for new energy supplies.

The EU has targeted 22% of the electricity consumed to be produced from renewable energy sources and 5.75% of the fuel to be consumed in cars to be from biofuels, all by the year 2010. These are ambitious goals which will be difficult to be fulfilled. The European ways to achieve these goals are two: The support system and the quota system.

Britain, Poland and Belgium put the second into action, which forced the electricity establishments to share their sales of renewable energy resources with the people so that the people can decide how they want their electricity to be generated and pay the appropriate price. While Germany and other states work on a price support system, which makes people invest with them.

The renewable energy industry in Germany employs more than 150 thousand workers, but its success depends on economic support. In Spite of the whole European effort the goals aren`t fulfilled yet. Renewable energy supplies will never be more than 8% of total energy in the year 2010. The shortfall will be more than 12%.

The Investment and Production of Renewable Energy Costs

The investment costs of renewable energy are different from one technology to another. It is less for wind energy ($1000 per K.V.). Photo voltaic solar energy is more, at $5000 for one K.V. These costs are too high when we compare them with the economical investment to produce electricity from conventional energy sources.

For example, producing electricity by gas turbine with single rotation (costs about $350 a KW). By gas turbine with twin rotation and big capacity, (costs about $550 a KW). And the cost of a conventional coal fired station is not over $1200 a KW.

Naturally the costs of operating renewable energy facilities are very cheap, since there are no fuel purchase cost, but are still expensive when compared to the operating costs of electricity being produced from conventional energy sources.

In addition, renewable energy suffers from intermittent electricity production. The cost of producing electricity from wind (low cost of renewable energy is about 4-5 cent a KW per hour, but it is not over 3 cent per BTU). Whereas the cost of producing electricity from solar energy is very expensive at about 30 cents a KW per hour. That is why the use of solar energy is very limited.

Solar energy has limited use, but it is very important as an energy source to supply electricity to poor, under-developed and isolated areas, such as in Africa and South Asia. Solar cell technology is used to produce electricity to a cottage in a rural area to fulfill basic necessities. A solar cell with the ability to produce 50WT could supply a cottage or house in a village to fulfill basic requirements, like lighting (but some time to operate a small TV or refrigerator).

Using solar energy to satisfy large scale electricity requirements is not practical or economical, but is a good way to supply electricity in a rural or small area in limited income countries or on a special case-by-case basis.

The two drawings below are intended to explain the costs of investments in and production of renewable energy with the different technologies, as it is now and as it will be in the year 2030. It explains the anticipated decrease of costs in the next 25 years.

With all this reduction of costs, renewable energy still suffers from high costs and discontinuous production that will limit its ability to contribute any meaningful share to the total energy mix in the near term.

Capital Costs of Renewable Energy Technologies, 2002 and 2030

Electricity-Generating Costs of Renewable Energy Technologies, 2002 and 2030

Energy in the World and Renewable Energy

In the year 2005 consumption of Energy in the world was about 11500 million ton equivalent of oil (MTEO), 9120 MTEO of geothermal energy, 630 MTEO of nuclear energy, 640 MTEO of water energy and more than 1110 MTEO of noncommercial energy, most of it from biomass. Look at Table No 1, which shows the huge sources available in geothermal and nuclear energy which is enough for the world energy requirement for the next decades.

Table No (1)
Consumption Energy in the World in 2005
Quantity-(Million Ton Equivalent to Oil)

Approximate and total consumption of energy at the beginning of this century divided as in table (2), which shows that geothermal can take 80% of the international energy sources.

Table No (2)

Share of each source of energy to meet international demand at the beginning of current century.

Hydro-electric Energy in Iraq

Hydro-electric energy is the generation of electricity from the natural flow of water, and in overall terms is a very energy efficient process. The purpose of building any dam is to contain the water source and to control its flow. Dams are normally constructed in a valley-like formations to create a lake.

Tunnels are formed in the lower sections of the dam wall in which turbines are mounted. The natural flow of water through the tunnels causes the turbines to rotate and thus generate electricity.

Iraq took an interest in hydro energy as an active source to produce electricity since the nineteen fifties. Iraq now owns five big dam hydro-electric generation stations. The first project in this field was the Dokan Dam, Darbandikhan in the Sulaimaniya province.

The first dam was built on the Lower Zab (a branch of the Tigris). It is about 360 m long and 116.5 m high. It has a water storage capacity of 6.8 billion m3 and a power generating capacity of 400 MW. The second dam was built on the Diyala River and is 44 m long and 128m high. It is able to store 3 billion m3 of water and has 240 MW designed capacity.

In Ninawa province, there is the biggest dam in terms of storing water and generating electricity. Al-Mosul Dam is on the river Tigris. It is about 3650 m long and 113m high. It is able to store 11.11 billion m3 and its design capacity is about 750 MW.

Hemrin Dam in Diyala province is on the Diyala River. It is 3360 m long and the highest point of the dam is 53 m high. It is able to store about 2.04 billion m3 of water and has a 50 MW design capacity.

In the west of Iraq, to use the Euphrates River water, Al-Haditha Dam was built on Al-Anbar River. It is 8923 m long and 57 m high with water capacity of 8.28 m3. The designed capacity is 660 MW.

There are also three other small hydro stations built. Al-Samara Dam, with a designed capacity of 75 MW, Al-Hindiya Dam, with a designed capacity of 15 MW and Al-Kufa Dam, which is the smallest, with capacity of 5 MW.

Economic calculation of these projects could show the production of hydro-electric energy compared with the rate of total electricity energy. Accordingly, we can estimate the importance of these projects.

Also, we can calculate their income in forms of production cost per unit of electricity, versus the sale price for electricity, by multiplying this by the number of units produced. Accordingly we can estimate the amount of money the government earned from the development of these alternative energy projects.

Produced Hydro Energy

There are many factors that affect the production of hydro-electric energy and makes it difficult to produce continually, especially in the current situation in Iraq. The quantity of water, in the lakes upstream of the dams, affects the produced energy. If the level of water drops in these dams, the produced energy will be less and vise versa. This is why the produced energy is not stable every year.

The security situation in Iraq also has a big impact on the production of enough energy. If an electricity transmission line is knocked out the electricity can not be transmitted properly, and the produced electricity will be less, despite the availability of electricity from the dams.

As it is shown in the diagram, the hydro-electric power generated was decreasing dramatically in 1999, when compared to 1998. This decrease continued for the next three years to 2001, due to the decrease in the levels of water stored behind the dams, which Iraq had suffered at that time.

Although power production improved for the period of 2002-2004, the water levels in the dams went down again in the year 2005, and thereafter, in addition to the sabotage activities which caused much harm to the electricity supply network that prevented the power from finding its way to the consumer, which resulted in a decrease in the total power generated.

The value of the generated power can be calculated by multiplying the annual units of production by the cost per unit, as explained in table No 3.

Dokan and Darbandikhan Dams, both currently producing 330 MW/ hour, which is half of their design capacity. This can be taken as an example to form an idea on the power generated by these two dams. By making a simple calculation of their production (they are up to 47 years old) assuming that their production was consistent at the level of 330 MW over the years.

We will reach an approximate number of production units of 13.586.700 MW of power that both dams generated.

Assuming that the production cost is of the year 2006 cost of production, then the total value for this power is 600 million US dollars, bear in mind that these two dams are not the largest dams in Iraq.

Table No (3)
Development of Generated Hydro-Electric Power

Then, we can reach another conclusion, which is the low cost of production of hydro-electricity, when compared to other means of electricity production in Iraq. We will find the low cost of producing electricity is in the northern directorates of Iraq, which generate its electricity from hydro-electric power stations.

Percentage of Hydro-Electric Power out of Total Power

Electricity production in Iraq is achieved through a number of generating stations spread all over Iraq, and in specific areas where load requirements are high and the needs of water and fuel can be met. These stations are divided into three types:

1. Steam stations.
2. Gas stations.
3. Hydro-electric stations.

These stations work to produce the electrical power to meet the needs on a continuous basis. The steam stations contribute the largest part of produced power, while the gas stations come into the third place as their production depends on the availability of water resources.

The percentage of hydro-electric power produced in Iraq versus the total power production is large. It varies from (30.8%) to (17.5%) for the period of the year1996-2006. As we explained before, the hydro-electric energy generated decreased from (28.5%) in the year 1998 to (20.8%) in the year 1999, down to (20.1%) in the year 2000, and finally to (17.1%) in the year 2001.
These percentages started to recover and move upward again in the year2002 when it reached (19.5%). In the year 2003, the hydro-electric energy generated increased again, due to the fact that the hydro-electric stations do not need fuel to operate as is the case with the other power stations that suffered from fuel supply problems.

This also caused the decrease in the total electricity produced. Additionally, Iraq electric shortages were a result of low levels of water and security circumstances.

That are linked to electricity supplying lines. The hydro-electric power production reached (24%), (20%) and (19%) during the last three years, as shown in table No 4.

Table No (4)
The percentage of the hydro-electric power to the totally produced energy

Nonetheless, Iraq leads most Arab countries in the share of hydro-electric power to the overall power production. Hydro-electric power comprises a very limited source of power in the Arab countries, due to the limited numbers of water supplies and rivers in these countries.

The hydro-electric energy produced in the Arab countries was estimated of 28000 MW in the year 2004, which represents 12% out of the total power generated in the entire Arab countries. It is important to note that this percentage is going to decrease in the future, as power generated from other power sources is on the increase.

When if comes to Iraq, the percentage of hydro-electric power produced is considered very large, especially in the year 2004 when it reached 24.2% which is the highest in all Arab countries, except Sudan, where the percentage reached 29.5% as shown in table No (5).

Table No (5)

Ministry of Water Resources – Future Plans

Here, we would like to underline the future plans of the Ministry of Water Resources, which include the addition of another 2924 MW of hydro-electric capacity, after the completion of a number of new dams, as shown in table No (6).

Table No (6)

According to what we have mentioned, the current power production, added to the future planned power is 5146 MW. This will contribute to the achievement of a proportional increase in the generation of electricity at waterfalls, with its known positive affects on the economical, social and environmental aspects of electricity generation, in addition to being a renewable energy source, which can be sustained over time.

Conclusion

It is my hope that this paper has provided a useful overview of the world of energy and the future for renewable energy in particular. In addition, I hope my comments on the energy supply situation in Iraq and plans for the future have been of benefit.

In summary, the world energy markets are in a state of change, with a growing realization that we can no longer rely on the conventional energy sources of the past. In the future we must look for and embrace alternative sources of energy, with a particular emphasize on new sources that meet two fundamental requirements as follows:

1. They are renewable and sustainable for the long term; and
2. They are environmentally friendly, with zero or minimum harmful emissions to the atmosphere.

Finally, the reality of the situation is that all of the energy sources mentioned in this paper have a place in this world. They all need to be embraced and employed in the future if the security of supply is to be achieved and maintained. It is not a matter of choosing one energy source over the other.

There is a need to select an appropriate mix and to create a suitable portfolio of energy supplies, based upon the particular circumstances and conditions prevailing in the different parts of the world. This is hugely important, if we are to deliver successful and sustainable energy supplies to the world.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Index:

1. The re-generated power resources: The World and Arab Technical and Economical Development / Dr. Hisham Al-Khateeb – the Honoree Vice President / World Energy Council.
2. Income of Water Resources Projects to Power/ The Relation and Media Center.

Equations:

Power by Kilowatt = (the water density*height of water column*drainage) / 0.85 power by megawatts for a number of years = average of power by kilowatts / hour*24 hours*30 days*12 months*No of years.

Baghdad- Iraq

October 2009

   Water plays a very essential and important role in social and economical development all over the world. The same is the case of Iraq, where the first Sumerian, Babylon, Assyrian civilizations on the banks of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers originated thousands of years ago. These civilizations were accompanied by construction of the first hydraulic structures of dams and irrigation canals and the drafting of laws for organized use of river waters. Water has been, and is still very important in the history of Iraq and its development. Thus, for us to understand what the future has for Iraq, we have to look at the existing water policies in Iraq and the challenges faced in investing in Water Resources development and management.

As a result of malfunctioning policies of the old regime in Iraq, interference in internal conflicts, regional and international wars, economic sanctions, lack of allocating necessary funds for infrastructural development and implementation of development projects, and lack of clear strategies for social and economic development in the country has led to deterioration in service delivery functions of various economic sectors. Furthermore, decisions for very  large strategic  projects were politically motivated more than being technically - sound solutions and  setting  standards for public participation and economic analyses of these projects were completely ignored in the decision making process the results of which have produced significant negative impacts on the present economic and social conditions of the country.

Insufficient application of modern methods of water resources management by the old Ministry of Irrigation has put the country several decades behind international levels of development. Carelessness of the old regime towards science and engineering was associated with 12 years of imposed economic boycotts and sanctions which prevented Iraqi engineers and scientists from taking advantage of international cooperation opportunities and transfer of modern technology. Therefore, we have inherited a very heavy inheritance of backwardness in all fields including Water Resources management. This dictates the need for long periods of time and sufficient funding for re-establishing and modernizing this sector.

The Iraqi Ministry of Irrigation in the past did not have enough machinery needed to complete irrigation projects. After 2003, the present Ministry of Water Resources has contracted and imported a large number of modern machinery and equipment from many well known international manufacturers and suppliers to improve the water situation in Iraq. In particular, drilling rigs for groundwater wells, water pumps, and machines for cutting grass, dredging equipment, and other necessary machinery were not available. The Ministry of Water Resources had two grouting pumps at Al-Mosul Dam in 2003 but now there are 36 new machines operational on site. In addition to the fact that the Ministry did not have new and sufficient machinery and except for a limited number of old dredging machines, the Ministry now has 58 dredging machines of various sizes although these special equipment and machinery need huge sums of money.

Since 1933, Iraq has experienced many consecutive drought periods the worst of which was a period of 3 years (1999 – 2000 - 2001) and now these drought years have been repeated since 2008 which indicates the negative impact of climate change being witnessed worldwide including lack of rainfall.

The impacts of many factors have resulted in the existing water crisis in Iraq:

The first factor is the climate change which has led to drought phenomenon which covered the Middle East region as a whole not Iraq alone. This has resulted in decreased amounts of rainfall and snow and significant decrease in water discharges of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and their tributaries.

Another important factor is the behavior of the neighboring countries (Turkey, Syria and Iran) in their operational water plans which limited the flow of potable water used to drain from the mountains of Turkey through Syria into Iraq and from the mountains of Iran into Iraq without dams or dikes. Ever since way back in history and until the early 70’s of the last century when the neighboring countries started constructing storage dams and irrigation projects and they are still continuing to build more storage and diversion hydraulic structures without taking into consideration the consequences of  decreased water flows into Iraq and the deterioration of their quality. A number of dams on the Euphrates River in Turkey and Syria have been built and through their operational plans they can control water quantities flowing into Iraq as well as their storage. As far as the tributaries of Tigris River, Iran has cut off the flow of all its tributaries in Iran which feed into Tigris River in Iraq completely as in case of Al-wind and Karkha tributaries and the diversion of Karun River inside the Iranian land instead of flowing into Shatt Al-Arab which caused also the increase in the water salinity of Shatt Al–Arab and the negative impacts on agricultural land and quality of drinking water supply in Basra province. As a result of ebb and tide on the towns of Al-Kurna and Al - Faw and also due to salt water intrusion there is no enough water head in land to prevent salt water intrusion.

The third factor is related to water management in Iraq’s old water policies since the establishment of the Iraqi modern state up until the fall of the dictatorship on 9^th April 2003 and the economic boycotts and sanctions on Iraq which have led to stoppage of the development process and deterioration of the service delivery functions in different economic sectors including the Water Resources sector. These policies lacked clear plans for water use and the old regime did not pay enough attention to irrigation projects in irrigable land and these lands became uncultivated and unsuitable for irrigation.

Implementation of many irrigation projects has been neglected by the old regimes. These projects were not put into beneficial use in addition to neglecting the necessary plans for maintenance and good operation. Most of the projects constructed in the country still need maintenance and development.

The water problem in Iraq is a long standing problem and today we have more than 12,689 kms of irrigation canals; primary and secondary, and field and collective subsurface drainage canals  most of them need rehabilitation as shown in the following table:

There are many water pumping stations in bad condition and need maintenance and renovation. Also aquatic grass and water pollution factors are spreading in rivers and tributaries.

The process of improving and developing the water resources situation in Iraq involves the implementation of important and strategic irrigation projects for optimal use of water resources especially in this present difficult transitional phase in Iraq which requires suitable security conditions on the sites of these projects in addition to suitable environment to encourage investments in the field of water resources. Implementation of irrigation projects,  construction of multipurpose projects, river dredging, utilization of ground water resources, construction of tourism sites and boating on these rivers in addition to utilization of the main sub-surface drainage canal water by desalination for irrigation purposes and other agricultural uses and for the restoration of Ahwars. All these activities require allotting sufficient funds within the capital budget for the implementation of new projects including the Ministry’s various activities and the development and improvement of existing projects.

The strategy prepared by the Ministry of Irrigation in the old regime has ended in the year 2000 and never modified since it started in 1982 and this is considered as a big and clear disorder. But we have got it right since the Ministry of Water Resources was formulated in 2004 by drawing up clear strategies starting from the strategy which covers the period 2010-2014 and then after another strategy for the period ending 2030. This is what we call the roadmap. Naturally these strategies will need time and effort and will be the future policies and strategies of water resources management in Iraq in an integrated form. The projects of these strategies will be awarded to foreign companies  for implementation taking into consideration changes occurring in the region and the world, and the water operational plans of the neighboring countries and the increase in development of water resources by constructing small and large dams and irrigation projects, the implementation of which would require increased and regulated irrigation projects in existing and future projects including land reclamation and introduction of modern irrigation methods ( Sprinkler and drip methods) in a good number of irrigation projects. These modern irrigation methods will result in water saving which we need at present and in the future. The Ministry is working hard on the development of water plans, rehabilitation of irrigation and subsurface drainage canals , lining of earth canals in order to reduce water losses and to prevent excessive water use specially that Iraq is now facing water shortage.

In the field of groundwater utilization and in accordance with the drafted strategy, the ground water storage is limited, but it could be used for drinking and for irrigating limited areas situated away from the surface water sources. Since June 30, 2003, until 31^st August 2009, 3395 ground water wells have been drilled. The plan according to the upcoming strategy, the General Establishment of Groundwater shall drill 1000 wells annually in all governorates of Iraq, in addition to ground water wells for the private sector.

Water resources studies point out the effect of water pollution in river water and provide guidelines for its treatment. Thus, we in turn call for allocating sufficient funding for water treatment, implementation of irrigation projects, and other activities of the Ministry in accordance with the strategy to uplift the irrigation and agricultural situation in Iraq. In this regard we would like to mention a number of important projects which the Ministry intends to implement according to the strategic plan (2010-2014).

In case of large dams, the following dams shall be constructed; Bakhama Dam, Badoosh Dam, Mendawa Dam and Al-Khazer River two dams Bakerman Dam and Khalikan Dam, in addition to Taq Taq, Qura Ali, and Litan Dam. The Ministry shall implement full and sustainable treatment of all engineering and geological problems occurring in Al-Mosul Dam which is considered as one of the largest and most important dams in Iraq, in addition to construction of small dams in the Western desert such as Ar Ar Dam, Al-Ghadaf Dam, Hamaer. Other on-going and / or to be implemented irrigation and land reclamation projects include: East Gharraf Project and West Gharraf Project in provinces of Wassit and Thi-Qar and Al-Kifil Al-Shinafiya project in the province of Diwaniya and Hilla Ashimiya project, Hilla Diwaniya  project in the province of Babil and Al-Jazeera south and Al-Jazeera East project in the province of Ninawa, and Al-Hawijeh project , Completion of Kirkuk Irrigation Project in Kirkuk province, Al- Rumethah  and Al-Muthana project, in the province of Anbar and Muthana provinces, Falooja - Al-Amriya project in Anbar province and Makhmoor, Shermamuk provinces of Erbil and Shahrazoor project in the province of Sulemaniya,  and Al-Khazer-Kumil province of Dohuk.

According to the drafted strategy, the total area which needs land reclamation amounts to 7.2 Million Donums. The land reclamation plan (2010-2014) amounts to 4 Million Donums distributed among provinces as shown in the following table:

Our Ministry has good relationships with the neighboring countries and has achieved large successes in this field in spite of the fact that dialogues with these countries had stopped during the previous regime for almost 20 years. Our Ministry is seeking exchange of information and expertise in particular at the level of operational plans and solving pending problems to secureIraq has continuously affirmed through the Ministry of Water Resources its keen interest in having good relationships with neighboring countries. The importance of effecting international cooperation, signing bilateral and multi lateral agreements to deal with declining water resources flowing into Iraq, putting an end to competition on these waters, enforcing the language of dialogue and cooperation for solution of problems resulting from water shortage at present and in future, finding successful ways and means for management of shared water resources, reaching a fair division of these waters among riparian countries, and taking into consideration Iraq’s rights of first use qualitatively and quantitatively according to international law and conventions have received special and close attention. Furthermore, it is essential to put into effect whatever is necessary for exchanging the hydro-metrological data among the riparian countries and to put plans for operation of existing dams and future projects.

Iraq’s water rights and to receive its fair share of water through signing of obligatory agreements with neighboring countries in order to secure fair division of these waters.

In spite of the fact that a number of agreements and bilateral protocols between Iraq and neighboring countries concerning fair division and Iraq’s right to first use of shared water resources exist, there are no obligatory agreements according to international law and conventions. This situation might cause problems among these countries in the future. In this regard the following agreements and protocols are listed here below:

Iraq Viz. Turkey:

• Agreement between Turkey and the allies of the First World War signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24^th July 1922. Its article 109 states the necessity to protect rights to first use of water resources for Syria and Iraq in Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• Agreement between Turkey and Iraq signed on March 29, 1946 of which Protocol No. 1 as an appendix to this agreement included rules for organized beneficial use from waters of these two rivers
• Article No. 3 of the Technical and Economic Cooperation Protocol between Iraq and Turkey in 1971 there is a clause stating: “The two parties have discussed the problems related to share water resources in the region”.
• Protocol between Iraq and Turkey of 1980 to which Syria has joined in 1983 which stated: “The formulation of a joint committee for regional water resources sharing among Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The responsibilities of the committees is to study the affairs concerning these regional water resources and in particular Tigris and Euphrates

2. Iraq viz. Syria:

• Agreement between the mandated countries of Britain and France on behalf of Syria and Iraq signed on December 3, 1920. Article no. 3 of this agreement stated:” The formulation of a committee to study any Syrian project which could increase or decrease the inflow of Euphrates river into Iraq at the border between Syria and Iraq.
• Agreement of April 17, 1989 signed between Iraq and Syria for dividing Euphrates River water flow at Syria-Turkey border so that 58% of this flow goes to Iraq and 42% goes to Syria.
• Agreement in 2002 between Iraq and Syria to install in Syria a Water Pumping Station on Tigris River. This agreement was based on UN resolution of 1997 as an agreed upon reference. This agreement allows Syria to install a water pumping station on Tigris River downstream Al-Khabur tributary to withdraw 1.25 Billion CUM of water annually. This station will be on the right banks of Tigris River at the international boundary between Syria and Turkey. This necessitates compensating this amount of water to Iraq by increasing Iraq’s share from Euphrates River.

3. Iraq Viz. Iran:

• Constantinople Protocol between Iran and the Ottoman Empire in 1913 between Britain and Russia secures reaching and delineating borders between the Ottoman Empire and Persia. After this agreement another agreement was reached in 1937. After submitting a conflict case between Iraq and Iran to the League of Nations Agency in accordance with Astana Protocol of 1913 and the minutes of meetings of the Committee for Delineation of Borders in 1914, this agreement was cancelled and unrecognized by Iran in 1969.
• Agreement of 1975 was reached between Iraq and Iran called Algiers Accord, which stated: “conducting comprehensive delineation of land borders between Iraq and Iran and the marine borders of Shat El Arab and to organize beneficial use of rivers crossing the borders of these two countries based on what was stated in Astana Protocol of 1913 and the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for Delineation of Borders in 1914. This agreement was cancelled by Iraq when Iranian Iraqi wars started in 1980.

It is clear from what has been mentioned here above that Turkey and Iran in spite of continuous discussions and meetings with Iraq, both countries have no desire for reaching agreements and let things go as they are for Turkey and Iran to use all resources in their countries as they desire. Furthermore, effluent discharges from agricultural, industrial and domestic sources of pollution of the rivers and the expanding fast development in the catchments of these two rivers especially in Euphrates River in Turkey and Syria and also in Iran are causing deterioration of Water Resource in Iraq.

Since 2003 up until the new Ministry of Water Resources was established and through its different constituents has carried out many activities and different interventions for improving the water resources situation and facing the drought periods of this year and the previous years.  The Ministry has done its best in planning for optimum utilization of water resources in Iraq including development of its uses,  introducing modern irrigation methods such as sprinkler and drip irrigation and spreading these methods as much as possible in suitable places, use of Geographic Information Systems for development of technical and administrative processes, coordination with other sectors consuming water specially agricultural, municipality and domestic uses for protection and conservation of surface and groundwater from pollution, paying attention to the environmental aspects, meeting water demands needed for agricultural lands during summer and winter seasons, focusing on land reclamation works to utilize largest areas possible, consruction of large and small dams to store water for hydropower, implementation of modern subsurface irrigation and drainage networks, water control structures on rivers and its tributaries, and construction of barrages, bridges and pumping stations for irrigation and drainage as per the capital investment plans of Iraq in addition to maintenance of existing irrigation projects. All these works and activities will lead to improvement of irrigation, reduction of salinity and water logging and improvement of agricultural production and conservation of stored water as per storage capacities of lakes and reservoirs on Tigris River and its tributaries and Euphrates River the total of which amounts to 121.07 BCM at the average operational levels of these reservoirs including their dead storage capacities excluding Al Rezaza lowlands as it is a closed land used for flood protection to conserve water for various uses as explained in the following table:

The Ministry is conducting a study on climate change in Iraq and its impact on the subject of drought. The Ministry also seeks to draw-up serious policy for reducing water losses at the farm level and for distribution of water for to all users.

As a conclusion, the inflows from Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are way below average discharges of previous years as the average present inflow is 19.43 BCM from Tigris River in comparison with previous average inflow from this River including its tributaries which was 49.48 BCM and from Euphrates River it was 30.3 BCM before the construction of Al-GAP project in Turkey ; it is expected that inflows of Euphrates River to Iraq after completion of Al-GAP project will reach 8.45 BCM from Euphrates River and 9.16 BCM from Tigris River assuming that all irrigation projects and storages as planned in Turkey and Syria would be implemented, and in the absence of an agreement determining the share of each country.

The present total water demand for different needs of Iraq amounts to 60.00 BCM excluding the demand for sustainability and restoration of Al-ahwar which amounts to 16 BCM. Future water demands of Iraq will reach to 77 BCM.