Kurdistan Region Adopts Comprehensive Water Strategy Through 2048

ARK News.. The Kurdistan Regional Government has approved a comprehensive 24-year national water strategy extending to 2048, aimed at achieving sustainable water security and increasing reliance on surface water sources to 75% in order to reduce the depletion of wells and groundwater resources across the region.

According to Kurdistan24, Ari Ahmed, Director General of Water and Sewerage in the Kurdistan Region, said the strategy, adopted as part of the ninth cabinet’s program, seeks to maximize the use of rivers, lakes, dams, and natural springs, particularly the Tigris, Greater Zab, Lesser Zab, Khabour, and Sirwan rivers.

Ahmed said the Kurdistan Region currently operates 25 strategic drinking-water production and distribution projects, with a combined capacity of 3,678,563 cubic meters per day, equivalent to an average of about 153,000 cubic meters per hour.

Under the strategy extending to 2048, drinking-water production is expected to increase by 2.1 million cubic meters per day through the construction of 26 new strategic projects in cities and districts across the region. These projects will rely exclusively on surface water, increasing the total number of people benefiting from the water system to 11.66 million.

Ahmed stressed that one of the strategy’s most significant environmental objectives is preventing the depletion of groundwater resources. The plan aims to:

Increase reliance on surface water to 75%.
Reduce reliance on groundwater and wells to 25%.

The Kurdistan Region currently relies on 5,810 water wells to provide drinking water. The new government strategy seeks to gradually phase out these wells and replenish groundwater aquifers to ensure the sustainability of water resources for the future.

30