VZCZCXRO8931
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDH RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0462/01 0521430
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211430Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6744
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0031
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 0704
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2343
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 0146

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000462 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PGOV PREL IZ TU SY JO
SUBJECT: PRT ANBAR: PRT HELPS TACKLE PROVINCIAL WATER 
PROBLEMS 
 
REF: A. 09 BAGHDAD 0931 
     ¶B. 09 BAGHDAD 2469 
 
 ¶1. (U) This is an Anbar Provincial Reconstruction Team 
(PRT)(Ramadi) cable. 
 
¶2. (U) SUMMARY: A three year drought and damming along the 
upper Euphrates River has dramatically reduced the amount of 
water available in Anbar Province.  Water levels in Lake 
Qaddasiya, the province's main reservoir, have dropped nearly 
30 meters in two years, and the Haditha hydroelectric dam is 
currently operating at ten percent capacity.  Pollution, 
inadequate sewage treatment, poor maintenance and managerial 
challenges have further exacerbated Anbar's water woes.  In 
response, the PRT and its military partners have invested 
over $100 million in water collection / distribution and 
sewage treatment projects since 2005 to provide Anbar's 
citizens with regular access to clean water.  Despite the 
degradation of the water supply, through joint PRT/Anbar 
Government initiatives, the PRT anticipates that 100 percent 
of Anbar's 1.4 million residents will have potable water by 
the end of 2010.  END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶3. (U) Anbar Province, encompassing one-third of Iraq,s land 
mass, is a predominantly desert environment.  The province's 
1.4 million residents live in cities and villages bordering 
the Euphrates River and its canals.  The Euphrates is 
essential to Anbaris' lives and livelihoods, providing water 
for the people and their livestock, and irrigation for their 
crops. 
 
¶4. (U) Yet Anbar, like the rest of Iraq, has been suffering 
through a prolonged drought.  This problem has been 
exacerbated by extensive damming of the Euphrates River. 
Turkey contributes an average of 90 percent of the Euphrates 
water flow, while Syria contributes another eight percent. 
Both of these countries have been constructing dams along the 
river since the 1970s; Turkey alone maintains 22 dams along 
the upper Euphrates (ref A).  Before the development of these 
dams, the Euphrates River's average flow rate into Iraq 
exceeded 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, or 1000 
cubic meters per second (cms).  According to data from the 
Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, this flow rate had 
declined to 290 cms by August of 2009.  Today, the Euphrates 
River inflow from Syria is at its lowest level in six years 
(ref B). 
 
¶5. (U) Consequently, water levels along the Euphrates in 
Anbar have dropped an average of one to three meters, while 
water levels in Lake Qaddasiya, Anbar's main reservoir, have 
dropped 30 meters since 2007.  The Haditha hydroelectric dam, 
which controls the flow of water from the lake into the 
Euphrates, contains six turbines capable of generating 660 
megawatts of electricity for the Iraqi national power grid. 
At present, two of those generators have been placed on 
long-term outage, while the remaining four generators produce 
an average of only 50 megawatts of electricity. 
 
¶6. (U) Agricultural runoff all along the Euphrates River has 
polluted the waters with fertilizers, pesticides and salts. 
In addition, raw sewage and industrial discharges are 
routinely dumped directly into the river (ref B).  As water 
levels have decreased, pollutants have become more 
concentrated in the remaining water.  These factors, coupled 
with inadequate sewage treatment, have increased health risks 
to the general populace.  Concentrated pollutants in the 
Euphrates can cause periodic cholera outbreaks, diarrhea 
QEuphrates can cause periodic cholera outbreaks, diarrhea 
diseases, stunted growth, and increased infant and child 
mortality. 
 
MANAGERIAL AND MAINTENANCE ISSUES EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Tribal politics and budgetary deficiencies further 
degrade the local Directorate of Water's (DOW) ability to 
distribute potable water.  The Anbar Director General (DG) of 
Water, Ibrahim Madlool, lacks the ability to make personnel 
changes within his own organization.  In addition, tribal 
sheikhs influence many water allocation decisions, while 
tribal water plant managers often overrule the decisions of 
DOW engineers. 
 
 
BAGHDAD 00000462  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶8. (U) Furthermore, the DG of Water's operational budget only 
provides for salary payments, with no funding allocated for 
maintenance, repairs, capital projects or water treatment.  A 
pervasive mindset of "running systems until failure" further 
complicates matters.  While all water plants in Anbar are 
supplied with redundant pumps, PRT representatives have 
visited many locations where one pump was functioning, but 
the backup pump was broken, and no efforts were being made to 
repair it. 
 
¶9. (U) Electricity shortages also contribute to premature 
equipment failure and degraded water quality.  Many water 
pumping and treatment plants in Anbar receive only six hours 
of power per day.  Frequent power outages compel treatment 
plants to repeatedly re-pressurize their pipelines, leading 
to equipment fatigue and failure.  Intermittent water 
service, coupled with reduced waterline pressure, allows 
contaminants to enter the pipeline as well. 
 
¶10. (U) Lastly, water distribution networks in Anbar are 
generally quite old and their pipes are riddled with cracks, 
breaks, illegal taps and inadequate safety valves.  Soil 
chemistry also contributes to pipeline erosion.  In short, 
the Anbar water distribution system is substandard. 
 
PRT STRATEGIC EFFORTS DELIVER TANGIBLE RESULTS 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶11. (U) To address these issues, the PRT and its military 
partners have implemented a strategic plan that has 
dramatically improved water quality and distribution in Anbar 
Province.  Using over $100 million in CERP funds, the PRT and 
the U.S. military have built 197 new water treatment plants 
since 2005, raising the total number of these plants in Anbar 
Province to over 400. 
 
¶12. (U) Because of decreased water levels, many of Anbar's 
water intake structures had been drawing water from the 
stagnant banks of the Euphrates River, collecting silt and 
contaminants.  In 2009, the PRT spent $1.7 million in CERP 
funds to modify 55 of these structures, ensuring that they 
draw cleaner water from the middle of the river.  The PRT 
plans to spend an additional $1 million to modify 35 more 
water intake structures in 2010. 
 
¶13. (U) More importantly, the PRT and the Anbar Government 
are pioneering a new, cost-effective approach to waste water 
treatment.  In 2010, the partners will spend $7 million to 
install four biological lagoons along the Euphrates River, 
providing sewage treatment for 400,000 people.  These 
low-tech lagoons require minimal maintenance since they 
utilize biological organisms to decompose waste material. 
This material can then be converted to fertilizer and sold to 
local farmers.  Also in 2010, the PRT will spend $3.4 million 
in CERP funds to install eight compact water treatment units 
in various rural areas of Anbar. 
 
¶14. (U) Today, 90 percent of Anbari residents have access to 
potable water, and the Anbar Directorate of Water is able to 
produce 200 percent of its annual treated water requirements. 
 With the installation of the biological lagoons and compact 
water treatment units, the PRT anticipates that Anbar 
Province will be able to provide treated water to 100 percent 
of its residents by the end of 2010. 
 
 
GOI BUY-IN AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (U) Since 2009, each of these projects has secured a 
cost-share of between 50 and 75 percent from GOI partner 
agencies.  In addition, the local DGs have become 
Qagencies.  In addition, the local DGs have become 
increasingly competent in planning and executing these 
projects through their partnership with the PRT and the U.S. 
military.  The PRT anticipates that its GOI partners will be 
fully capable of implementing their own programs upon the 
team's departure in 2011. 
 
PROBLEM SOLVED (?) 
----------------- 
 
¶16. (U) To date, the PRT has focused its efforts on 
eliminating water service gaps and remedying treatment 
deficiencies in Anbar.  Despite its significant achievements, 
several challenges remain.  Turkey and Syria's damming of the 
 
BAGHDAD 00000462  003 OF 003 
 
 
Euphrates River constitutes a systemic threat to the 
agricultural and economic vitality of Anbar Province; a 
threat that can only be addressed through ongoing 
international negotiations.  The provision of sufficient 
electricity to power the water distribution system is another 
issue that must be addressed at the national level. 
 
¶17. (U) At the local level, the Directorate of Water, in 
collaboration with the Provincial Government, must take steps 
to empower its management team to resist tribal influence. 
The DOW must also repair and upgrade its existing water 
distribution systems while providing adequate budgetary 
support for routine equipment maintenance.  Lastly, 
implementing fee service policies and combating illegal 
tapping will help to increase revenues and decrease water 
waste and misuse.  The PRT continues to work with its local 
partners in an advisory capacity to address these issues, 
with an eye toward its eventual withdrawal from Anbar 
Province in 2011. 
FORD