Iraq’s Mosul Dam approaches dead storage, water expert says
Shafaq News – Nineveh
Mosul Dam, Iraq’s largest reservoir, is nearing dead storage for the first time in over 50 years, threatening to cut off downstream water flow entirely, former dam director and water expert Riyad Izz al-Din al-Nuaimi warned Monday.
Al-Nuaimi told Shafaq News the crisis—driven by climate change, weak rainfall, and sharp declines in inflows from upstream countries, particularly Turkiye—marks Iraq’s worst water emergency in over a century, with current reserves unable to meet even basic national needs.
He urged the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Water Resources to intensify diplomatic pressure on Ankara, describing Turkiye as a “tough and tactical” negotiator. Without a stronger stance, he cautioned, water shortages along the Tigris and in eastern Iraq will only intensify.
Read more: Iraq’s southern drought: Policy paralysis and upstream pressures deepen rural collapse
Iraq’s drought, already deepened by extreme climate shifts, has been compounded by significant cutbacks in water released by both Turkiye and Iran. Despite repeated negotiations with Ankara, Baghdad has reportedly secured minimal results, including the latest round held October 10 to discuss shared water management and technical cooperation.
The Green Iraq Observatory condemned the most recent talks as "ineffective," accusing Turkiye of breaching earlier release commitments and dismissing attempts to revive the Iraq–Turkiye Water Cooperation Framework Agreement as “detached from reality.”
Separately, Water Resources Minister Aoun Diab Abdullah announced that Baghdad has officially requested Ankara to release an additional one billion cubic meters—split equally between the Tigris and Euphrates—over the next 50 days to stabilize national reserves through October and November.
Read more: Severe drought lay bare hidden history of Mosul Dam
