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The Middle East Is Running Out of Water and Becoming Uninhabitable
August 22nd, 2021
Via CNN, a report on how the Middle East is running out of water, and parts of it are becoming uninhabitable: The ferries that once shuttled tourists to and from the little islets in Iran’s Lake Urmia sit rusty, unable to move, on what is rapidly becoming a salt plain. Just two decades ago, Urmia was […]
Read more »How Water Shortages Are Brewing Wars
August 18th, 2021
Via BBC, a look at how water shortages are brewing wars: Speaking to me via Zoom from his flat in Amsterdam, Ali al-Sadr pauses to take a sip from a clear glass of water. The irony dawning on him, he lets out a laugh. “Before I left Iraq, I struggled every day to find clean […]
Read more »Tensions Rise As Iranian Dams Cut Off Iraqi Water Supplies
August 18th, 2021
Via Deutsche Welle, an article on how drought in Iran is sparking protests, but its strategy of building dams to conserve water has devastating consequences across the border in Iraq: Alqod Mahmoud stands on the bank of the Diyala River, staring helplessly into the stagnant pond where deep waters once swelled. Diyala means “shouting river” […]
Read more »Middle East and North Africa: Dry and Disorderly
August 8th, 2021
Courtesy of The Economist, an article on the parched countries of the Middle East and North Africa: In the neighbourhood of Algiers where the presidential palace and foreign embassies are located, some think the water pressure has increased of late. But don’t tell those living in the suburbs of Algeria’s capital, where the taps have […]
Read more »Proposed Dams Strain Water Politics in Iraq
October 26th, 2020
Via Deutsche Welle, a report on how – while scientists warn of their negative impact on biodiversity – the autonomous Kurdistan Region is building multiple dams to respond to water insecurity: Over the last 30 years, Jassim Al-Asadi has witnessed the Mesopotamian Marshes of southern Iraq where he was born undergo dramatic changes. Once the […]
Read more »Iraq: Kurdish Dam Building Spree Threatens Fragile Water Supplies
October 14th, 2020
Via Future Directions International, a report on how planned Kurdish dams may impact Iraq’s fragile water supply: A proposal to build several dams in Iraqi Kurdistan has sparked concerns that new dams in the region could lead to further water shortages in the rest of Iraq, as well as concerns that the proposed dams could cause significant damage […]
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