{"id":126809,"date":"2025-05-26T09:15:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/?p=126809"},"modified":"2025-05-26T09:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T06:15:31","slug":"iraq-faces-worst-water-crisis-in-80-years-cuts-farm-output","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/islam\/iraq\/126809-iraq-faces-worst-water-crisis-in-80-years-cuts-farm-output\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq Faces Worst Water Crisis in 80 Years, Cuts Farm Output"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iraq is confronting its most severe water shortage since the 1940s, with reserves dropping to a critical 10 billion cubic meters\u2014far below the 18 billion needed to sustain basic needs, Water Ministry officials announced Sunday. The crisis, described as &#8220;unprecedented in modern history,&#8221; has forced the government to drastically reduce summer agricultural output to prioritize drinking water for its 46 million citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khaled Shamal, spokesperson for Iraq&#8217;s Water Ministry, revealed that five consecutive years of drought, diminished snowmelt, and upstream dam projects in Turkey and Iran have cut Iraq&#8217;s share of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to less than 40% of its historic allocation. Farmers, who cultivated 2.5 million dunams (625,000 acres) last year, will now be restricted to maintaining just 1.5 million dunams of essential crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"914\" height=\"448\" src=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091449.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091449.png 914w, https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091449-300x147.png 300w, https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091449-768x376.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 914px) 100vw, 914px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At the 5th Baghdad International Water Conference, Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani launched a national initiative to protect Iraq&#8217;s rivers, calling for international pressure on neighboring countries to honor water-sharing agreements. The World Resources Institute ranks Iraq among the world&#8217;s 25 most water-stressed nations, with over 80% of its supply already allocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t just an environmental issue\u2014it&#8217;s existential,&#8221; Shamal stated. &#8220;Without guaranteed water access, Iraq&#8217;s food security and stability are at risk.&#8221; The government is urging farmers to adopt drip irrigation systems, though experts warn these measures alone cannot compensate for the regional water deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"995\" height=\"654\" src=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091334.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091334.png 995w, https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091334-300x197.png 300w, https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-26-091334-768x505.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 995px) 100vw, 995px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be mentioned that despite severe water crises, the millions of pilgrims of Aba Abdillah al-Hussein, peace be upon him, have never stayed thirsty, especially during the great Arbaeen Walk, when they are generously offered a lavish feast by the devotees of His Majesty, all thanks to the blessings and enduring miracle of the Master of the Martyrs, peace be upon him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq is confronting its most severe water shortage since the 1940s, with reserves dropping to a critical 10 billion cubic meters\u2014far below the 18 billion needed to sustain basic needs, Water Ministry officials announced Sunday. The crisis, described as &#8220;unprecedented in modern history,&#8221; has forced the government to drastically reduce summer agricultural output to prioritize &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":126810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12696],"class_list":["post-126809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iraq","tag-water-crisis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Iraq Faces Worst Water Crisis in 80 Years, Cuts Farm Output - Shia Waves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/news\/islam\/iraq\/126809-iraq-faces-worst-water-crisis-in-80-years-cuts-farm-output\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq Faces Worst Water Crisis in 80 Years, Cuts Farm Output - Shia Waves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iraq is confronting its most severe water shortage since the 1940s, with reserves dropping to a critical 10 billion cubic meters\u2014far below the 18 billion needed to sustain basic needs, Water Ministry officials announced Sunday. 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