In recent months, the flow of the Euphrates has dropped visibly, going so far as to dry up its less valiant arms. Result: in this summer when temperatures sometimes approach 50 degrees, a third of the province of Diwaniya is deprived of direct access to water.
“If the water is cut, there is no more life,” laments Younes Ajil. In his village of Al-Aghawat, he waits for one of the tank trucks sent by the governorate, which tours the affected hamlets once or twice a week.
“Even with a daily distribution, the quantities would not be enough,” he laments. “I haven’t washed for four days,” says the forty-something, father of eight children.
Between scorching temperatures and worsening water shortages, Iraq is one of the five countries in the world most exposed to certain effects of climate change, according to the UN.
“The land of two rivers”, as its inhabitants call it, sees the level of the Tigris and the Euphrates decreasing year after year.
The Iraqi authorities point to the drought, but also the dams built upstream, in neighboring Turkey and Iran.
Mr. Ajil dug a well, but the water he gets from it is salty. “We mix that with the water from the tank truck and we manage”.
– “High salinity” –
When the truck makes its appearance, his children rush in with a joyful din. To collect the blue gold, some homes have taken out pots or even… a refrigerator overturned on the ground.
Mr. Ajil shares his home with his brother Mohamed. Like most of its neighbours, they once lived off agriculture.
But because of the drought, it has been two years that agricultural activity has been faltering. To meet the needs of their families, the two brothers sell the sheep from their herd.
“There are about fifty houses in this village. There are only ten families left, the others have left”, breathes Mr. Ajil, 42 years old.
“Climate migration is already a reality in Iraq,” asserts a report published in August by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Until March 2022, more than 3,300 families had been displaced by “climatic factors”, in ten central and southern provinces. In question: “the scarcity of water, its high salinity and its poor quality”.
If the Euphrates still crosses Diwaniya, some “tributaries are suffering from drought”, says Hassan Naïm, head of water resources for the province. As a result, around 20 sewage treatment plants are shut down, he says.
The crisis has lasted for more than two months. In the past, “some rivers dried up, but it only lasted a few days”.
Mr. Naïm admits that the quantities of water distributed are “very low” compared to the needs and he advises against using wells in which “the salinity rate is very high”.
– “Torture” –
Twice, hundreds of residents demonstrated to express their anger.
“About a third of the province of Diwaniya suffers from a problem of access to water”, recognizes its governor Zouheir al-Chaalane, underlining the impact on agriculture, livestock, and the consumption of drinking water. .
More than 75 villages are affected, he says.
Irrigated by the Euphrates, his province receives a flow of water oscillating between 85 and 90 cubic meters per second, he explains. It would be necessary to double this flow to stop the shortages.
In a province where the land feeds people, he calls for excluding Diwaniya from the rationing and water sharing plan between the different regions prepared by Baghdad.
“We live from agriculture. Diwaniya has no border post, no oil field, no religious sanctuary (attracting pilgrims, editor’s note) or tourism,” he pleads.
In the village of Al-Aghawat, Razzak Issa calls for “a solution” with Turkey to increase the flow of the rivers.
“Yes, we ration the uses, but it’s hot. How do I ration? I don’t wash? I don’t wash my jellabah? I don’t wash my children? Impossible”, he protests.
He too mixes salt water from his well with that distributed by the authorities. “Where can we go? Wherever you go, Iraq is torture. In Nassiriya, in Samawa, they are dying of thirst.”