Iraqi Kurd farmers battle drought as Lake Dukan retreats

Lake Dukan, Iraq – (AFP):

Farmers in Iraqi Kurdistan seeking to irrigate crops face seeing their economic lifeline slip away as the waters of Lake Dukan recede and dams upstream in Iran stem the flow.

The large artificial lake was created in the 1950s following construction of the Dukan dam, to supply irrigation and drinking water for the region, as well as to generate electricity.

But for several years both the lake and the river have been shrinking — as have all of the rivers in Iraq. The country is classified as one of the five nations most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and desertification.

Its water reserves have fallen by 60 percent compared with last year, the government says.

With rainfall becoming a rarity and after three successive years of drought, Iraq has been forced to halve the area it devotes to agriculture.

Drought is not the only source of the farmer’s water problems. Iran has built several dams on the Lower Zab, notably the Kolsa barrage.

“The Kolsa dam has caused at least an 80 percent drop in the water levels” of the Lower Zab, said Banafsheh Keynoush of the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

She said Iran is going through one of the worst droughts in its history and has had to revise its irrigation policy.