VZCZCXRO4273
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1071/01 1101516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201516Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2764
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAGR IZ TU IR EAID PGOV
SUBJECT: ERBIL: Water from a Rock: Drought and Dohuk 
 
This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team Message. 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  The Kurdistan Regional Government has officially 
declared 2009 to be another drought year.  In an effort to 
proactively mitigate the drought's effect, Dohuk Governor Tamar 
Ramadan recently convened a conference to formulate a provincial 
drought action plan.  But human and industrial demand continues to 
overburden the province's limited water resources.  Despite 
proactive planning and aggressive resource management, more 
investment is needed to increase residents' access to potable.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
Snapshot of Water in Dohuk Province 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (U) Dohuk's nearly 1 million residents, including a sizeable 
portion of the grain farmers of northern Iraq, depend on a 
combination of wells and reservoirs located throughout the province. 
 Those sources are dependent upon rain-fed ground water, springs and 
the two major rivers that run along its western and eastern borders. 
 The western half of the province depends primarily on water from 
Chambarakat (Mosul) Dam in Ninewah Province and the smaller Dohuk 
Dam in Dohuk City.  (Note:  The KRG recently began the second phase 
of a project that will link the western half of the province 
directly to the Tigris River, alleviating pressure on Chambarakat.) 
The eastern half of the province relies on town/village wells, as 
well as unfiltered water piped from the Zab River and a collection 
of minor springs, but those water sources have no major reservoirs. 
The KRG has plans to build modern reservoirs in the eastern area, 
but to date, has been unable to secure the funding required (an 
estimated USD 90 million) and is not optimistic that it will be able 
to this year.  Due to the absence of reservoirs, most residents of 
the eastern Dohuk receive water for no more than three hours a day. 
 
Dohuk Governor Gets Serious About Water 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4. (U) Despite the rain that has fallen across the Kurdistan Region 
(KR) for the past month, the Kurdistan Regional Government has 
officially declared 2009 to be another drought year.  In order to 
mitigate the drought's effect on the population, Dohuk Governor 
Tamar Ramadan recently convened a conference of all provincial 
government officials and all University of Dohuk faculties 
associated with water resources.  That conference resulted in a 
12-point action plan.  Recommendations included beginning the 
process of water purification, having the KRG dig artesian wells 
throughout the province, building small and big dams throughout the 
province, and working closely with academia to "develop the DG of 
Water Resources plans for drinking water for human and animal 
consumption."  The conference attendees recommended the creation of 
drought-relief action committees in all three provinces of the KR 
and a central committee in Erbil.  Finally, the governor requested 
KRG permission for an emergency drought relief budget of USD 
14,954,044, based on the needs of the province as determined by the 
conference attendees. 
 
¶5. (U) Governor Ramadan convened a similar conference last year, to 
which many provincial officials attribute the province's laudable 
preparedness for the drought of 2008.  The five Directors General of 
water resources say that population migration from the rural to the 
urban areas of Dohuk was greatly reduced because the province had a 
comprehensive plan to regularly truck water to the rural areas, and 
to dig artesian wells in strategic locations.  The rate of 
water-borne illnesses in Dohuk was significantly lower than years 
before because the DGs of Water, Health and Sanitation had a plan to 
Qbefore because the DGs of Water, Health and Sanitation had a plan to 
regularly test water sources throughout the province and bar access 
to those sources deemed contaminated.  (Note: The Dohuk DG of Health 
recorded six reported cases of cholera in 2008.) 
 
 
Hoping for Rain, Planning for Sun 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6. (U) Despite having an aggressive drought management plan, the 
reality is the demand on Dohuk's limited resources has long 
outstripped what appears to be a dwindling supply.  According to the 
Dohuk DG of Agriculture, Dohuk DG of Water, and the Dohuk 
Development and Modification Center (DMC), average rainfall and 
snowfall in the province has steadily decreased over the past 
decade.  He says that, although the western half of the province has 
benefited from the flooding of the Tigris River, the level of water 
in Dohuk Dam is still too low to carry the province through the 
summer without emergency drought intervention.  Furthermore, the 
ground water on which the whole province depends, and the province's 
only backup for when drought sets in, is rapidly depleting.  "Do not 
expect these few drops of rain to replenish our reserves.  We will 
need another 3-4 years of above average rainfall to repair the 
damage caused by last year's drought," said DMC Director Engineer 
Mustafa Abdulkhaliq.  The artesian wells that the government drills 
in order to fill water trucks tap precious reserves of groundwater. 
Once the water table decreases to a certain level, the water's 
sulfur and nitrogen content become high enough to make the water 
dangerous for human consumption.  Due to this topographic feature of 
 
BAGHDAD 00001071  002 OF 002 
 
 
Dohuk, DG of Water Jalal Jameel predicts that he will be forced to 
close seven artesian wells due to the nitrogen level.  Overall, 
Dohuk's water resource officials predict that the province will lose 
an estimated 35-45% of its local water resources in 2009. 
 
¶7. (U) In addition to affecting quality of life and health for 
humans, water scarcity has an effect on water-dependent issues such 
electricity provision and agricultural development.  Dohuk has four 
pending hydroelectricity projects, each of which will depend on 
average rainfall in order to function.  (Note: Dohuk is not 
connected to the Erbil power line.  The province relies on 
electricity imported from Turkish company KARTET.  The amount of 
electricity provided by KARTET is insufficient for the demand that 
exists and is both unreliable and, at six times the cost of local 
electricity, very expensive. Provincial officials are hopeful that 
these hydroelectricity projects, once implemented, will alleviate 
demand in the remote parts of the province that currently receive 
little to no power.)  Furthermore, the KRG Ministry of Agriculture 
has 93 agricultural projects scheduled for implementation in Dohuk 
in 2009.  Without sufficient rainfall and ground water levels, those 
projects may not be implemented and a critical part of the KRG's 
plan for economic development, bolstering and upgrading the 
agricultural sector, will be delayed for another year.  While the 
Governor's drought action plan requested KRG funding to safeguard 
crops and livestock during 2009, those funds will most likely 
protect existing agricultural entities and rather than supply new 
ones.  In 2008, drought conditions were so austere that farmers in 
the KR were forced to sell their cattle or watch them die from 
dehydration.  A province that, for decades, had such an abundance of 
grass for grazing that it welcomed migrating shepherds from outside 
of the KR during the summer months, Dohuk was forced to turn those 
farmers away because the drought decimated any surplus that would 
have existed. 
 
BUTENIS