Al-Jarbouiya River dries up in Iraq’s Babel province
Shafaq News – Babel
Severe drought has erased Al-Jarbouiya River in southern Babel, stripping nearby villages of the water they depended on for crops and livestock.
Images obtained by Shafaq News show a barren riverbed, halting agriculture and pushing families to relocate in search of work. Farmers appealed for urgent government action to restore water to the area.
Speaking to our correspondent, residents of Al-Qasim district called for increased releases from Al-Hilla River, which once irrigated nearly 50,000 dunams (about 12,350 acres) of farmland, while officials attributed the river’s collapse to declining Tigris flows, reduced inputs into Al-Hilla River, and unresolved provincial water disputes, with pollution worsening after the river dried out completely.
Years of declining rainfall, rising temperatures, and reduced upstream inflows have shrunk farmland and accelerated desertification. Since 2017, the country has endured four major droughts, with the recent one described as the worst since 1933. The World Bank ranks Iraq among the world’s five most climate-affected countries, with substantial losses of arable land.
Water reserves have fallen to just 8% of normal levels, while the Tigris and Euphrates rivers reached historic lows — drying marshes and wetlands, wiping out over 70% of livestock, and leaving nearly 40% of farmland at risk of desertification.
Read more: From drought to saltwater: Iraq's deepening water crisis
