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!important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}</style> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105js_/http://gorillasguides.com/wp-content/plugins/advancedsearch/advancedsearch.js"></script><link rel="stylesheet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105cs_/http://gorillasguides.com/wp-content/plugins/advancedsearch/advancedsearch-lite.css" type="text/css" media="screen"/> </head> <body> <div class="container"> <div id="navigation"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/">Home</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-6"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/gorillas-guides-for-the-perplexed/" title="Gorilla’s Guides For The Perplexed">Gorilla’s Guides For The Perplexed</a> <ul> <li class="page_item page-item-3589"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/gorillas-guides-for-the-perplexed/fatwas/" title="Fatwas A 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sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.”</h2> <div id="search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/"> <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"/> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12286"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/29/afp-iraq-water-shortages-raising-ethnic-tensions/#respond" title="Comment on AFP: Iraq water shortages raising ethnic tensions">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 29th, 2011 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/29/afp-iraq-water-shortages-raising-ethnic-tensions/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to AFP: Iraq water shortages raising ethnic tensions">AFP: Iraq water shortages raising ethnic tensions</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/early-warning/" title="View all posts in Early Warning" rel="category tag">Early Warning</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-department/" rel="tag">agriculture department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arable-land/" rel="tag">arable land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drinking-water/" rel="tag">drinking water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dukan/" rel="tag">Dukan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dukan-dam/" rel="tag">dukan dam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/electricity/" rel="tag">electricity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan-region/" rel="tag">kurdistan region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniyah/" rel="tag">sulaimaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkmen/" rel="tag">Turkmen</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-flow/" rel="tag">water flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortage/" rel="tag">water shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supplies/" rel="tag">water supplies</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>A worsening water shortage in Iraq is raising tensions in the multi-ethnic Kirkuk province, where Arab farmers accuse the Kurdistan region of ruining them by closing the valves to a dam in winter.</p> <p>"We are harmed by the Kurds, and the officials responsible for Baghdad and Kirkuk will not lift a finger," said Sheikh Khaled al-Mafraji, a leader of the Arab Political Council that groups mainly Sunni tribal leaders.</p> <p>At the heart of the conflict is the Dukan dam, built in 1955 in Iraq’s northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, 75 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Kirkuk province.</p> <p>"They release too much water from June to September while from October it is the opposite: there is not enough drinking water and even less to irrigate our lands," Mafraji complained.</p> <p>Kirkuk province with its rich oil reserves has 250,000 hectares (617,740 acres) of arable land and 16 percent of its workforce engaged in agriculture, according to UN figures. Winter crops include wheat and corn, and summer harvests are mainly sesame, tomatoes and watermelon.</p> <p>A UN factsheet in October 2010 showed that while more rain fell in 2009 compared with 2008, the situation is still critical. Rainfall is now 50 percent below average.</p> <p>"The central government must intervene immediately to ask that our brothers in the north (Kurds) provide the necessary amounts of water for irrigation," Mafraji said, threatening to hold demonstrations if his voice was not heard.</p> <p>Out of Kirkuk’s estimated 900,000 inhabitants, some 31 percent live in rural areas, UN data shows. They represent all of Iraq’s faiths, and are ethnic Arabs, Turkmen or Kurds.</p> <p>Largely because of its oil riches, Kirkuk is at the centre of a tussle between Iraq’s central government and authorities in Kurdistan, who want to add it to their own region, currently made up of three provinces.</p> <p>"Our suffering began in 2005, when the peasants were forced to set aside one-third of their land and cultivate only small patches near the artesian well" where there was water, said Abdul Rahman al-Obeidi, who owns 450 hectares west of Kirkuk.</p> <p>"The peasants claimed that they (the Kurds) cut off water supplies to force them to leave the area. They do not understand there is a shortage and believe it is a political conflict," he added.</p> <p>For him, it "is the lack of coordination between the authorities in Baghdad and Sulaimaniyah (the province in which the Dukan dam lies) which fuels the notion that the Kurds are responsible."</p> <p>The growing water deficit and dams built by Iraq’s neighbours have significantly reduced the water flow in a country that was until the late 1950s a breadbasket of the Arab world.</p> <p>"The dam holds 1.3 million cubic metres of water," said Shihab Hakim Nader, director of water resources in Kirkuk province.</p> <p>"There is a strategic reserve of 700,000 cubic metres (which must not be used), which means there remains 600,000 cubic metres that can be used. But the rain is becoming more scarce, and the level of the dam is decreasing."</p> <p>"Also, the Kirkuk area receives only 30 cubic metres per second of water, when it should be receiving 75. This is only sufficient for drinking water," he added.</p> <p>The issue is a ticking bomb in a province with strong ethnic loyalties, where Arabs accuse Kurds of intentionally harming the province.</p> <p>"The water issue is critical, and thousands of people driven to unemployment blame their situation on Kurdistan," said Sheikh Burhan Mezher, the head of Kirkuk’s agriculture department.</p> <p>According to Tahseen Kader, a former minister of water resources for the Kurdistan region’s government, the closure of Dukan’s gates is routine and not a matter for concern.</p> <p>"Every year, even during the time of the old regime (of Saddam Hussein who was ousted in 2003) we used to close the dam gates during the winter," he said.</p> <p>Kader said that was done "to conserve water for agriculture in the late spring, and for the production of electricity," and claimed the notion that political motives had driven the dam closure was absurd.</p> <p>"The majority of the inhabitants of the province of Kirkuk are Kurdish, so why would we harm them? We don’t want to harm anyone," he said.</p> </blockquote> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.france24.com/en/20110129-iraq-water-shortages-raising-ethnic-tensions" class="external" target="_blank">France24 – Iraq water shortages raising ethnic tensions</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12081"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/sumerian-era-site-discovered-in-nassiriya/#respond" title="Comment on Sumerian Era Site discovered in Nassiriya">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 3rd, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/sumerian-era-site-discovered-in-nassiriya/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Sumerian Era Site discovered in Nassiriya">Sumerian Era Site discovered in Nassiriya</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/acadian/" rel="tag">acadian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ancient-iraq/" rel="tag">ancient iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archaelogy/" rel="tag">Archaelogy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archaeological-sites/" rel="tag">archaeological sites</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/aswat-al-iraq/" rel="tag">Aswat Al Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/babylon/" rel="tag">Babylon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dhi-qar-governorate/" rel="tag">Dhi Qar (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hammurabi/" rel="tag">Hammurabi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history/" rel="tag">History</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/history-of-mankind/" rel="tag">history of mankind</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lagash/" rel="tag">lagash</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mesopotamian/" rel="tag">Mesopotamian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nasiriyah/" rel="tag">Nasiriyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prophet-ibrahim/" rel="tag">Prophet Ibrahim</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sasanian/" rel="tag">sasanian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/southern-iraq/" rel="tag">southern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sumer/" rel="tag">Sumer</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sumeria/" rel="tag">Sumeria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sumerian/" rel="tag">sumerian</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ur/" rel="tag">Ur</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ziggurats/" rel="tag">Ziggurats</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD / <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=140259" class="external" target="_blank"><strong>Aswat al-Iraq</strong></a>: An ancient archaeological site, dating back to Ancient Iraq’s Sumerian Era, was discovered in southern Iraq’s Nassiriya city, the center of Thi-Qar Province, the Director General of the High Commission for Archaeology &Heritage, Qais Rashid Hussein said on Sunday.</p> <p>“Our excavation teams have discovered an important site in a Sumerian position, dating back to the Dawn of the Ancient Strains – Third Century BC, south of Nassiriya city,” Hussein told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that “the site, carrying the name ‘Umm al-Aqarib (Mother of Scorpions) consists of a worshipping position, housing units and about 600 archaeological antiques, that were handed over to the Iraqi Museum.”</p> <p>The archaeological sites in Thi-Qar Province, comprising amazing ancient archaeological sites, date back to the ancient historic eras of Misopotamia (Ancient Iraq), some of them dating back to the Somerian era and others to the Acadian, Babylonian, Firthian, Akhmenian, Sasanian or Islamic eras, whilst it comprises the world’s most ancient archaeological hill, called “Al-Obali Hill”, dating back to 6,000 BC.</p> <p>Among the most ancient positions in Thi-Qar Province is the ancient city of Ur, the birthplace of Prophet Ibraim al-Khalil (Prophet Abraham), the site of the 1st Flood, as well as its King Ornmo, who laid the first law in the world, preceding King Hamouraby’s law, and its ancient Ziggorat, its Royal Semetery, that comprised the world’s largest trearsure, dating back to the Sumerian Kingdom, with its Queen Shaabad, where the world’s most ancient worshipping place, known to have the first relationship of human beings with Heavens exists.</p> <p>Thi-Qar also comprises the Kingdom of Lagash, where the first expressions in the world history were laid down by the Revolutionary Leader, Uro Kajina, who cancelled taxes and demanded equality among the people’s classes, and where the first use of the word “Freedom” was used in the history of mankind.</p> <p>Among Thi-Qar’s ancient Kings had been King Antmina, who had been behind the digging the world’s first canal to connect River Tigris with the city of Lagash, considered the world’s most ancient irrigational project.</p> <p>Nassirya, the center of Thi-Qar Province, is 380 kms to the south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=140259" class="external" target="_blank">Archaeological site, dating back to Iraq’s Ancient Sumerian Era, discovered in Nassiriya: : Aswat Al Iraq</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11862"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/05/rudaw-kurdistans-parched-land-in-dire-need-of-rain/#respond" title="Comment on Rudaw: Kurdistan’s Parched Land in Dire Need of Rain">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 5th, 2010 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/05/rudaw-kurdistans-parched-land-in-dire-need-of-rain/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Rudaw: Kurdistan’s Parched Land in Dire Need of Rain">Rudaw: Kurdistan’s Parched Land in Dire Need of Rain</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-land/" rel="tag">agricultural land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/biyare-district/" rel="tag">Biyare district</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/choman-district/" rel="tag">Choman district</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/erbil/" rel="tag">Erbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farms/" rel="tag">farms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/global-warming/" rel="tag">Global warming</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/graseen-district/" rel="tag">Graseen district</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iranian-border/" rel="tag">iranian border</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-kurdistan/" rel="tag">Iraqi kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan-meteorology-and-seismology-directorate-kmsd/" rel="tag">Kurdistan Meteorology and Seismology Directorate (KMSD)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan-region/" rel="tag">kurdistan region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdistan regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurds/" rel="tag">kurds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/makhmour/" rel="tag">Makhmour</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qaraj-district/" rel="tag">Qaraj district</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall-levels/" rel="tag">rainfall levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rania/" rel="tag">Rania</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaymaniyah/" rel="tag">Sulaymaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tawela-district/" rel="tag">Tawela District</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels-in-reservoirs-and-dams-and-rivers/" rel="tag">water levels in reservoirs and dams and rivers</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan:  An agricultural official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is warning that if there is no rain by December 15th in areas around Erbil and southern Sulaimani, and by the end of this month in other areas of Kurdistan, 85 percent of farms will remain uncultivated this year.</p> <p><a title="20101205_rudaw_drought_article_photo_witrh_caption by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5233792677/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px" height="214" alt="20101205_rudaw_drought_article_photo_witrh_caption" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5233792677_1b764d63e1_o.jpg" width="375" align="right"/></a>It was this fear that made many Kurds congregate last week in different towns and cities praying for rain, a religious ritual practiced by Muslims worldwide asking God to send His merciful rain.</p> <p>Khaled Suleiman, a 44-year-old farmer, has had his seeds and pesticides ready for nearly two months but he has not been able to cultivate his land because of lack of rain. He fears his land will stay uncultivated this year.</p> <p>Suleiman lives in Qaraj district close to Erbil, the capital of the federal region of Kurdistan. Suleiman’s livelihood depends on his approximately 66 hectares of land. He said that, out of 401 hectares of agricultural land in his village, only 13 hectares of it had been cultivated this year.</p> <p>“We fear we will have a dry year and cannot raise our cattle too. If there is no rain by mid-December then there will be no cultivation here,” he said.</p> <p>There are around 1.5 million hectares of agricultural land in Kurdistan, 88 percent of which depends on rain for cultivation. The Qeraj, Kandinawe and Shemamak plains near Erbil are the areas most under the threat of drought this year.</p> <p>Saeed Mustafa, director of agriculture in Makhmour, said only 668 hectares of the area’s 66,890 hectares of agricultural land had been cultivated this year.</p> <p>According to figures obtained by Rudaw from the Kurdistan Meteorology and Seismology Directorate (KMSD), the highest rate of rainfall in Erbil province this year has been in Choman district, near the border with Iran, which has so far seen 12.3 millimeters.</p> <p>In Sulaimani province, the highest rate of rainfall has been in the Tawela area, also close to the Iranian border, which has reached at 8.7 millimeters.  In Duhok province the highest rate has been 8.1 millimeters in the Graseen area.</p> <p>At the same time last year, Choman had seen 176.8 millimeters of rainfall, Biyare 252.4 millimeters and Graseen 88.8 millimeters.</p> <p>KMSD’s head, Hassan Wehab, said his office did not possess advanced enough technology to forecast several months ahead.</p> <p>“We have 27 weather registration centers and we can only forecast the weather for the next 48 hours,” Wehab said.</p> <p>But he said the delay in rainfall is not necessarily a sign of drought since the rainy season is not over yet. KMSD officials say the rain shortage is mostly due to global warming which has affected other areas of the Middle East, such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine/Israel.</p> <p>The looming threat of drought has made some farmers in Kurdistan criticize Kurdistan’s Ministry of Agriculture for failing to implement irrigation projects to reduce their dependence on rainfall.</p> <p>Anwar Omar, director of planning at the Ministry of Agriculture, blamed the low number of irrigation projects on the small budget allocated for this.</p> <p>“In Kurdistan’s five-year strategic agricultural plan, around 70 percent of the budget was earmarked for building dams and irrigation projects, but unfortunately over the past two years only 25 percent of the budget has been injected into the projects,” Omar said. “Because of the budget shortage we have only been able to irrigate 15 percent of agricultural land.”</p> <p>Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture say that, out of 25 proposed dams, only 14 have been approved by the government, and these 14 are only at the stage of signing contracts and surveying.</p> <p>Two dams, one in Koya, south of Erbil, and the other in Garmyan, south of Sulaimani, are currently under construction and are expected to be completed by the end of this year, but they are unlikely to be functioning until after this year.</p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/3340.html" class="external" target="_blank">Kurdistan’s Parched Land in Dire Need of Rain</a> | By Rawa Abdulla | Rudaw in English</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11826"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/30/iraq-civilians-still-suffering-undue-hardship/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship">No Comments</a></span> Posted on November 30th, 2010 by Abdus-Samad</div> 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat/" rel="tag">wheat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ac%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a8-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%b1/" rel="tag">جمعية الصليب والهلال الاحمر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>The persistent lack of security is hampering efforts to provide essential services for civilians. The ICRC is doing its utmost to help meet the most pressing needs. This is an update on these and other <span style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/home!Open" target="_blank" class="external">ICRC</a> 30-11-2010 <a title="Operational Update" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2010/irak-update-2010-11-30.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Operational Update</a></strong> </span>ICRC activities carried out in Iraq in September and October.</p> <p>Despite improvements in the security situation achieved over the years in many parts of Iraq, ongoing violence continues to claim the lives of hundreds of men, women and children every month, and to have a serious impact on the lives of many more.</p> <p>Over the past year, the lives of many Iraqi civilians have not changed for the better. Civilians continue to carry the heaviest burden amid the widespread violence. They are still the main victims of the indiscriminate attacks and mass explosions that have taken place in cities such as Baghdad, Ninewa, Diyala, Anbar, Najaf, Kerbala and Basra, and that have left, on average, hundreds of people wounded or dead each month this year.</p> <p>"Indiscriminate attacks against civilians inflict tremendous suffering. They are clearly unacceptable. They are contrary to international humanitarian law and to the most basic principles of humanity," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Iraq. "Civilians must be protected against violence, as must be medical personnel and facilities".</p> <p>The humanitarian situation in Iraq remains serious. Iraqis are filled with anxiety and uncertainty about what the future holds. Vulnerable people, such as women heading households, disabled people and detainees, continue to depend to some extent on outside help to meet basic needs.</p> <p>The persistent lack of security and wanton violence have had a considerable effect on the feasibility of providing essential services for the population. The ICRC is doing its utmost to help meet the most pressing needs, especially in rural areas and in the places hardest hit by the conflict and other violence. ICRC activities aim primarily at ensuring that people have access to adequate health, water and sanitation services, and at helping the destitute and other needy people.</p> <p>Visits to detainees held under Iraqi, Kurdistan Regional Government and USF-I authority remain a priority for the ICRC. "Ensuring that detainees are treated humanely and are held in conditions that respect their dignity has been our constant concern since we started working in Iraq 30 years ago," said Mr Barth.</p> <p>The ICRC continues to speak out about the plight of conflict victims in Iraq. It does so in dialogue with as many parties as possible that can influence the situation on the ground. Its aim is to bring about greater respect for civilians and detainees, and to ensure that unimpeded access is granted for humanitarian action to help the people in greatest need throughout the country.</p> <p>"The role of the ICRC, as an impartial humanitarian organization, is crucial to efforts to protect civilians from harm and to ensure that detainees are properly treated and held in decent conditions," said Mr Barth.</p> <p>In September and October 2010, in response to the unstable and often changing security environment, the ICRC made further adjustments to its working procedures so that it could continue to provide services to those who need them most.</p> <h4><b>Bringing aid to vulnerable people</b></h4> <p>The ICRC has maintained its support for people facing special difficulties earning a living and supporting their families, such as women heading households and people with disabilities. In September and October:</p> <ul> <li>hygiene kits and food parcels were provided for more than 5,600 people in the governorate of Mosul; </li> <li>emergency aid was provided for more than 170 displaced people in Sulaimaniya governorate; </li> <li>95 grants were made in Kirkuk, Ninewa, Dohuk, Sulaimaniya and Erbil governorates to enable disabled people to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. Around 700 disabled people have received such aid since 2008; </li> <li>the livestock of 731 needy farmers in the Kifri district of Diyala governorate were vaccinated; </li> <li>around 950 metric tonnes of wheat seed were delivered to some 3,800 farmers in the governorates of Diyala, Anbar, Salahadin, Baghdad and Babil to help them restore their food production; </li> <li>50 kilometres of irrigation canals serving over 7,000 people were cleaned and renovated in the Khalis and Kifri districts of Diyala governorate; </li> <li>600 sheep and 38 metric tonnes of fodder were distributed to 200 farmers in the Baaj district of Ninewa governorate. </li> </ul> <h4>Assisting hospitals and physical rehabilitation centres</h4> <p>In some rural and conflict-prone areas, health-care services are still struggling to meet the needs of the civilian population. The ICRC continues to help renovate the premises of health-care facilities and train staff. Limb-fitting and physical rehabilitation services are provided by the ICRC to help disabled people reintegrate into the community. In September and October:</p> <ul> <li>10 doctors and 28 nurses successfully took part in a course intended to strengthen emergency services given in Al Sadr Teaching Hospital in Najaf; </li> <li>273 new patients were fitted with prostheses and 1,148 new patients with orthoses at 10 ICRC-supported centres throughout Iraq. </li> </ul> <h4>Providing clean water and sanitation</h4> <p>Access to clean water remains difficult in much of Iraq. ICRC engineers continue to repair and upgrade water, electrical and sanitary facilities, especially in places where violence remains a concern and in rural areas, to improve the quality of services provided in communities and health-care facilities. In September and October, these activities included:</p> <h5>Emergency assistance:</h5> <p>The ICRC delivered water by truck:</p> <p>● in Zharawa district, Sadr City, Husseinia and Maamal to 6,384 internally displaced people; <br/>● to the 385-bed Al Imam Ali General Hospital; <br/>● to the 400-bed Al Kindy General Hospital in Baghdad, which was struggling to cope with summer water shortages.</p> <h5>Support for health-care facilities:</h5> <p>The ICRC completed work upgrading: <br/>● Tarmiyah General Hospital, which serves between 250 and 300 outpatients daily, in Baghdad governorate; <br/>● Tamour primary health-care centre, which serves 50 patients per day, in Kirkuk governorate.</p> <h5>Water supply in hospitals:</h5> <ul> <li>The ICRC completed the installation of drinking-water purification units in Baquba General Hospital, Muqdadiya General Hospital, Baladrooz General Hospital and Al Zahraa Maternity Hospital, with an overall capacity of 600 beds, in Diyala governorate. </li> </ul> <h5>Drinking-water supply:</h5> <ul> <li>Five main projects benefiting around 725,000 people were completed throughout the country. </li> </ul> <h4><b>Visiting detainees</b></h4> <p>ICRC delegates visit detainees in order to monitor the conditions in which they are being held and the treatment they receive. In all cases, the ICRC shares its findings and recommendations confidentially with the detaining authorities, with the aim of obtaining improvements where necessary.</p> <p>In September and October, the ICRC visited detainees held by the correctional service of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence and various Kurdish Regional Government authorities in places of detention in Basra, Thi Qar/Nasiriya, Baghdad, Babil, Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya governorates.</p> <p>In some of these places, to help the detaining authority improve conditions of detention, the ICRC gave detainees mattresses, blankets and recreational items such as books and games.</p> <p>The ICRC makes a special effort to restore and maintain ties between detainees and their families. In September and October, over 1,000 Red Cross messages were exchanged between detainees and their families in Iraq and abroad. The ICRC also responded to around 800 enquiries from families seeking information on detained relatives. In addition, it issued 249 certificates of detention to former detainees. The ICRC facilitated the voluntary repatriation of two released detainees, and issued two travel documents to refugees to enable them to resettle abroad.</p> <h4><b>Clarifying what happened to missing people</b></h4> <p>In its role as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC continues to chair the mechanisms set up to address the cases of people who went missing in connection with the 1990-1991 Gulf War. At the 67th session of the Technical Sub-Committee of the Tripartite Commission, held on 28 September in Kuwait, the members of the sub-committee reaffirmed their commitment to accounting for people who went missing in connection with the war. At the sub-committee’s next meeting, which will take place in Kuwait in November, preparations will be made for a joint field mission to the south of Iraq to check on suspected burial sites.</p> <p>On 27 and 28 October, representatives of Iran and Iraq held a high-level meeting in Geneva under ICRC auspices with the aim of determining what happened to people missing in connection with the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. The meeting was the first of its kind following the signature in October 2008 of a memorandum of understanding between Iran, Iraq and the ICRC aimed at expediting the search for information on people previously registered as, or presumed to be, prisoners of war and on others who have gone missing, and at identifying mortal remains.</p> <p>Relieving the suffering of the families of missing persons by clarifying what happened to their loved ones is one of the ICRC’s priorities. The ICRC continues to provide the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights and Baghdad’s Medical-Legal Institute with the technical support they require to exchange information and build up their capacity in the area of forensics.</p> <h4><b>Promoting international humanitarian law</b></h4> <p>Reminding parties to a conflict of their obligation to protect civilians is a fundamental part of the ICRC’s work. The organization also endeavours to promote international humanitarian law within civil society. In this framework, it organizes presentations for various audiences, which include military personnel, prison staff, students and professors.</p> <p>In September and October, information sessions on international humanitarian law were organized for members of the Iraqi Army, the Peshmerga forces and Assayesh security forces. In October, a "train-the-trainers" course was organized for 14 members of the Iraqi Centre for Military Values and Professional Leadership Development. One member of the Iraqi armed forces attended an advanced course on international humanitarian law at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy, and another attended a workshop on rules of engagement, also held in Italy.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2010/irak-update-2010-11-30.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: civilians still suffering undue hardship</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11314"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/07/09/paradise-found-water-and-life-return-to-iraqs-garden-of-eden/#respond" title="Comment on Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’">No Comments</a></span> Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Sagib</div> <h3><a 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align="right"> <p><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 42px; float: left; margin: 3px 1px 0px 0px; line-height: 36px; font-style: normal! important">O</span>ne of Saddam Hussein’s greatest acts of ecological destruction – the draining of the Mesopotamian marshes – has been reversed as birds and rivers return to the region</p> <p>Saddam Hussein’s draining of the Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq – recorded as the Garden of Eden in the Bible – was one of the most infamous outrages of his regime, leaving a vast area of once-teeming river delta a dry, salt-encrusted desert, emptied of insects, birds and the people who lived on them.</p> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p><a title="20100708_marshes_guardian_nature_iraq_captioned" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4777445917/" class="external" target="_blank"><img alt="20100708_marshes_guardian_nature_iraq_captioned" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105im_/http://static.flickr.com/4074/4777445917_ea65faecc3.jpg" border="0"/></a></p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>  <div style="clear: both"> </div> <p>But nearly two decades later the area is buzzing and twittering with life again after local people and a new breed of Iraqi conservationists have restored much of what was once the world’s third largest wetland to some of its former glory.</p> <p>The story of this once almost impossible restoration is told in an exhibition of photographs that has opened in the UK. They show the huge expanses of reeds and open water – now at least half the size of the Florida Everglades – where plants, insects and fish have returned, creating a vast feeding area for migrating and breeding birds, including the majestic Sacred Ibis, the endemic Basrah Reed Warbler and the Iraq Babbler, along with most of the world’s population of Marbled Teal ducks, bee-eaters and many more.</p> <p>"We call them stop-over sites, refuelling sites," said Richard Porter, Middle East advisor for the conservation group Birdlife International, who has helped train biologists and other experts for the local Birdlife partner <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://natureiraq.org/English/" class="external" target="_blank">Nature Iraq</a>. "They are as important as the breeding and over-wintering grounds for species; if you have got to make a journey from central Africa to norther Europe and Asia, and you’ve got nothing to feed on, you’re stuffed."</p> <p>The Mesopotamian marshes originally made up an area more than three times the size of Norfolk, where the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.birdscapesgallery.co.uk/" class="external" target="_blank">exhibition is showing, in Holt</a>. It sprawled across thousands of square kilometres of floodplain where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers divided into a network of tributaries meandering and pulsating south to the Arabian sea. They were home to more than 80 bird species, otters and long-fingered bats, and hundreds of thousands of Marsh Arabs who grew rice and dates, raised water buffalo, fished and built boats and homes from reeds.</p> <p>In the early 1990s, this way of life came to an abrupt end when Hussein ordered the marshes to be drained to punish the local population for an uprising after his failed invasion of Kuwait, a problem exacerbated by the continued construction of dams upstream.</p> <p>He ordered the area to be hemmed in by constructing around 4,000km of earthen walls that towered up to 7m above the unbroken flat landscape. The wetlands retreated to as little as 5-10% of their original size, according to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/1000/1716/meso2.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">a 2001 United Nations Environment Agency report</a>.</p> <p>After Hussein was toppled by American forces in 2003, Azzam Alwash returned from his adopted home in the US to the area, where he had lived for part of his childhood, and learned to hunt ducks with his father while they inspected the irrigation ditches. Alwash found the local people who had stayed had already begun to break up the walls with shovels or earth diggers, and they have continued to do so. They have destroyed up to 98% of the embankments, he told the Guardian, "not because they are tree-huggers or bird-lovers, but because it’s a source of economic income to them, because they can harvest reeds and sell them. They can fish and feed a family or sell them to earn extra income."</p> <p>Alwash, a civil engineer, set up Nature Iraq and has organised training for graduates who help with monitoring work. "We take guards with us with Kalashnikovs, but the most difficult part is the road between [the capital] Baghdad to the marsh," said Alwash. "Once I’m inside the marshes it’s relatively safe."</p> <p>About half the original marshland has been restored – even more had been reinstated, but there was a setback last year because of a drought. Nature Iraq has now drawn up a plan to cope with the diminishing water flows from dams upstream in Turkey by channelling irrigation water back into the rivers and building a barrage to retain meltwater from the mountains and create a "mechanical flood" of water to replicate the important pulses of freshwater that wash through the marshlands every spring.</p> <p>Alwash and his team are also trying to tackle the problem of local poaching, although he has great sympathy with those who have few alternative sources of income, and hopes the opening of a new oil industry will help create jobs.</p> <p>"We have done some work in trying to educate the locals," he added. "We say: ‘Go out and hunt but take less; make $10 today – you don’t have to make $20, and make $10 tomorrow’. We just keep at it. You can’t give up."</p> <p>• The exhibition runs until July 25 at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.birdscapesgallery.co.uk/" class="external" target="_blank">Birdscapes Gallery in Glandford, Norfolk</a></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/09/iraq-marshes-reborn" class="external" target="_blank">Paradise found: Water and life return to Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’ | Environment | The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11187"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/29/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%aa%d9%84-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%ac%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87/#respond" title="Comment on العراق: القتل من أجل المياه">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Nabil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/29/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%aa%d9%84-%d9%85%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%ac%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to العراق: القتل من أجل المياه">العراق: القتل من أجل المياه</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-land/" rel="tag">agricultural land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-sector/" rel="tag">agricultural sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/air/" rel="tag">Air</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/average-rainfall/" rel="tag">average rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/construction-of-dams/" rel="tag">construction of dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-situation/" rel="tag">economic situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/feuds/" rel="tag">feuds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-department/" rel="tag">irrigation department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/land-resources/" rel="tag">land resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shortage-of-water/" rel="tag">shortage of water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soil-salinity/" rel="tag">soil salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/traditional-tribes/" rel="tag">traditional tribes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-distribution/" rel="tag">water distribution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supplies/" rel="tag">water supplies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-baghdad/" rel="tag">west Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>في الساعات الأولى من صباح 18 يونيو، اقتحم مسلحون منزل فيصل حسن في غرب بغداد وقتلوه وزوجته وطفليهما الصغيرين. ولكن لم يكن الدافع وراء هذه الجريمة طائفياً أو سياسياً أو حتى اقتصادياً، بل كان مرتبطاً بالمياه. <br/>فقد كان حسن البالغ من العمر أربعين عاماً موظفاً في دائرة الري المحلية في مدينة أبو غريب، الواقعة على بعد 32 كيلومتراً من بغداد والتي اشتهرت في الآونة الأخيرة بالفضائح المرتبطة بالسجن المقام على أرضها. وكان القسم الذي يعمل فيه حسن يشرف على توزيع الحكومة للمياه على الأراضي الزراعية داخل مدينة أبو غريب ومحيطها.</p> <p>وحسب محقق الشرطة، محمد خضير، رفع مقتل حسن عدد العاملين في قسم الري الذين تعرضوا للقتل في هذه المدينة إلى ثلاثة خلال الأشهر الثلاثة الماضية. وعلق خضير على ذلك بقوله: "لم يكن لأي من هؤلاء علاقة بالسياسة أو الأنشطة المعادية للمتشددين ولكنهم كانوا بدل ذلك ضحايا لطبيعة عملهم التي أصبحت محفوفة بالمخاطر". <br/><strong>خطر المواجهات المحلية </strong> <br/>وتتمتع القبائل والعشائر التقليدية في المناطق الريفية في العراق بسلطة كبيرة، إذ عادة ما تحصل من أعضائها على ولاء أقوى مما يقدمونه للحكومة الوطنية. وقد دخلت هذه العشائر في الماضي في اشتباكات حول الأراضي وموارد المياه ولكن مع غياب حكومة قوية منذ عام 2003 وانخفاض إمدادات المياه خلال السنوات الأخيرة، يرى بعض المحللين أن الخلافات المحلية المرتبطة بالمياه في ازدياد وأصبحت تنذر بخطر حدوث نزاعات مسلحة. </p> <p>وعلق جعفر محمد علي، وهو محلل بكربلاء على ذلك بقوله: "لا نملك اليوم حكومة تعمل بشكل كامل لأنها منشغلة كلياً بالحالة الأمنية والخلافات السياسية، ولذلك لا تلعب دوراً قوياً في ردع أي خلاف محتمل واسع النطاق. كما نعاني أيضاً من نقص حاد في المياه على الصعيد الوطني ومن وضع اقتصادي سيء للغاية يجعل من الصعب جداً على المزارعين القيام بأعمال أخرى". <br/>من جهته، أفاد علي اسماعيل الزبيدي، أحد شيوخ القبائل في محافظة الديوانية الواقعة على بعد حوالي 200 كلم إلى الجنوب من بغداد، أن قبيلته أجرت "مفاوضات صعبة" بشأن حصص المياه مع قبيلة أخرى مجاورة. وأضاف قائلاً: "نحن نعاني من مشاكل يومية فيما يخص المياه، فهم يستعملون مضخات مياه كهربائية ضخمة لشفط المياه ولا يتركون لنا سوى قطرات فقط. كما أن المسؤولين في الحكومة عاجزون عن تنظيم الري ووقف أولئك الذين ينتهكون اللوائح الخاصة به إما بسبب الفساد أو لأنهم يخشون على حياتهم. لذا يتعين علينا حل هذه المشكلة بأنفسنا". وأوضح أنه بحاجة لعقد المزيد من الاجتماعات مع شيوخ هذه القبيلة لحل النزاع حول المياه "ولكن هذا لا يعني أنه بإمكاننا الانتظار طويلاً، بل سنتصرف بسرعة لتأمين المياه التي نحتاجها لأرضنا حتى لو توجب علينا حمل السلاح". <br/><strong>أمة تفتقر للمياه</strong> <br/>وكان العراق تاريخياً واحداً من الدول الأكثر خصوبة في المنطقة بفضل نهري دجلة والفرات اللذين يتدفقان باتجاه الجنوب الشرقي عبر البلاد بأسرها. وكان شريطاً أخضراً من الأراضي الخصبة يمتد عبر وسط البلاد تغذيه مياه النهرين. غير أن مستويات المياه في دجلة والفرات انخفضت بشكل مطرد في السنوات الأخيرة بسبب قلة هطول الأمطار وبناء السدود على الأنهار في تركيا وسوريا. </p> <p>بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تعرض القطاع الزراعي في البلاد للشلل بسبب عقود من الحرب وانعدام الأمن وقلة الاستثمارات وقطع الأشجار من دون رادع لاستخدامها كحطب للوقود، مما زاد من ملوحة التربة وتسبب في تعرض بعض المناطق للتصحر. وقد تحولت مساحات كبيرة من الأراضي الزراعية التي كانت خصبة فيما قبل إلى صحراء شبه قاحلة أخذت تسبب عدداً متزايداً من العواصف الرملية في ظل ذبول النباتات المثبتة للتربة. <br/>وقد قامت الحكومة، استجابة لذلك، بتبني تدابير لتنظيم كمية المياه المستخدمة للري في كل محافظة ولكنها واجهت صعوبات في تنفيذها. وقال مهدي القيسي، وكيل وزارة الزراعة، لشبكة الأنباء الإنسانية (إيرين) أن "المزارعين لم يلتزموا بلوائح توزيع المياه. ونحن ننصحهم باتباع هذه اللوائح هذا العام لأننا لا نستطيع ضمان كمية المياه التي ستتوفر لدينا". </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://arabic.irinnews.org/ReportArabic.aspx?SID=2083" class="external" target="_blank">العراق: القتل من أجل المياه-العراق-بيئة-نزاع-المياه والصرف الصحي</a></p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11115"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/24/killing-for-water/#respond" title="Comment on Killing for water">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 24th, 2010 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/24/killing-for-water/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Killing for water">Killing for water</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-land/" rel="tag">agricultural land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-sector/" rel="tag">agricultural sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/air/" rel="tag">Air</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/armed-conflict/" rel="tag">armed conflict</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/average-rainfall/" rel="tag">average rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bala/" rel="tag">Bala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/construction-of-dams/" rel="tag">construction of dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economic-situation/" rel="tag">economic situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmland/" rel="tag">farmland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/feuds/" rel="tag">feuds</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-department/" rel="tag">irrigation department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/land-resources/" rel="tag">land resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity/" rel="tag">salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shortage-of-water/" rel="tag">shortage of water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/soil-salinity/" rel="tag">soil salinity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/traditional-tribes/" rel="tag">traditional tribes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-distribution/" rel="tag">water distribution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supplies/" rel="tag">water supplies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-baghdad/" rel="tag">west Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 23 June 2010 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89586" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – In the early hours of 18 June, gunmen broke into Faisal Hassan’s west Baghdad home killing him, his wife and their two young children. The motive was not sectarian, political or even economic – but water-related. <br/>Forty-year-old Hasan was an employee of a local irrigation department in Abu Ghraib city – 32km west of Baghdad and famed in recent times for scandals surrounding its prison. <br/>The department he worked for supervised government water distribution to farmland in and around Abu Ghraib. His death brings the number of irrigation department employees killed in this city to three in the past three months, Mohammed Khudhair, a police investigator, said. <br/>“All these employees had nothing to do with politics or anti-militant activities, but instead were victims of the nature of their work, which has become a risky one,” he said. </p> <p><strong>Risk of local feuds </strong></p> <p>In Iraq’s rural areas, traditional tribes and clans hold much sway and often attract stronger loyalty from members than the national government. Clans have clashed in the past over land resources and water, but with the absence of a strong government since 2003 and the decline in water supplies in recent years, analysts say local water feuds are on the rise and risk becoming armed conflicts.</p> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p>Government officials can’t control the regulation of irrigation and stop those who violate their regulations either because of corruption or because they fear for their lives. So we have to solve this issue ourselves.</p> </p></div> <p> </div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>“Today, we don’t have a fully functioning government as it is totally preoccupied by the security situation and political wrangling so we don’t have a strong role to deter any possible widespread conflict,” Karbala-based analyst Jaafar Moahmmed Ali said. “Besides, we have an acute shortage of water nationwide and a very bad economic situation that makes it very hard for farmers to do other work.” <br/>Tribal sheikh Ali Ismael al-Zubaidi from Diwaniya Governorate, about 200km south of Baghdad, said he had been having “tough negotiations” over water allocations with another tribe that lives upstream from his. <br/>“We have daily problems with water. They are siphoning water with huge electric water pumps and leave only drops for us,” al-Zubaidi said. “Government officials can’t control the regulation of irrigation and stop those who violate their regulations either because of corruption or because they fear for their lives. So we have to solve this issue ourselves.” <br/>Al-Zubaidi said he needed to hold more meetings with the upstream tribe to resolve the water dispute “but that doesn’t mean that we can wait a long time. We will act swiftly to secure the water we need for our land even if we have to take up weapons.” </p> <p><strong>Water-scarce nation </strong></p> <p>Historically, Iraq has been one of the more fertile nations in the region, thanks largely to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which flow southeasterly through the entire nation. There used to be a thick, green ribbon of fertile land snaking through the middle of the country, fed by the two rivers. <br/>However, in recent years water levels in the Euphrates and Tigris <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86222" class="external" target="_blank">have steadily fallen</a> due to below-average rainfall and the construction of dams on the rivers in neighbouring Turkey and Syria. <br/>In addition, the country’s agricultural sector has been paralysed by decades of war and insecurity, underinvestment and the unchecked felling of trees for firewood, which has increased <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=85987" class="external" target="_blank">soil salinity</a> and caused desertification in some areas. Large tracts of once fertile agricultural land have been transformed into semi-arid desert and are causing an increasing number of sandstorms as soil-binding plants shrivel up. <br/>In response, the government has adopted measures to regulate the amount of water being used for irrigation in each province but has faced difficulties implementing them. <br/>“The farmers didn’t adhere to the water distribution regulations. We advise them to follow the regulations this year because we cannot guarantee the amount of water we’ll have,” Mahdi al-Qaisi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89586" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: Killing for water | Middle East | Iraq | Environment Conflict Water & Sanitation | News Item</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10997"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/10/iraqi-farmers-told-to-abandon-cultivating-rice/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi farmers told to abandon cultivating rice">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 10th, 2010 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/10/iraqi-farmers-told-to-abandon-cultivating-rice/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi farmers told to abandon cultivating rice">Iraqi farmers told to abandon cultivating rice</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-decline-of/" rel="tag">Agriculture decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-department/" rel="tag">agriculture department</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-ministry/" rel="tag">agriculture ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar-rice/" rel="tag">Anbar rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arable-land/" rel="tag">arable land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/azzaman/" rel="tag">azzaman</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/cereal-imports/" rel="tag">cereal imports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/date-palm/" rel="tag">date palm</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/date-palms/" rel="tag">date palms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desert/" rel="tag">desert</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-imports/" rel="tag">food imports</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-water/" rel="tag">irrigation water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maysan-governorate/" rel="tag">Maysan (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/new-crops/" rel="tag">new crops</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palm-groves/" rel="tag">palm groves</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palm-trees/" rel="tag">palm trees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice-cultivation/" rel="tag">rice cultivation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice-growers/" rel="tag">rice growers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/southern-iraq/" rel="tag">southern iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/summer-crops/" rel="tag">summer crops</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-volume/" rel="tag">water volume</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Iraqi farmers can no longer grow rice in their fields as water levels from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have become dangerously low, a senior agriculture official said. </p> <p>“We have ordered the farmers to stop growing rice across the province for this year’s summer season,” said Nasser Manatti, head of the Agriculture Department in the southern province of Missan. </p> <p>Most of Iraq’s rice yields, estimated at 150,000 tons a year, come from Missan. </p> <p>“We have taken this measure in order to ration the use of irrigation water,” Manatti said. “We have instructed the farmers to swap to other summer crops. Rice needs a lot of water and we are afraid we cannot meet the water volume necessary for cultivation.” </p> <p>It is not clear how rice growers could suddenly swap to other crops and whether the new crops they grow will be as lucrative. </p> <p>But Manatti said his department has taken several measures to facilitate the change from rice to other crops. </p> <p>Iraq imports more than 80% of its cereal requirements which include more than 1 million tons of rice a year. </p> <p>Local rice produce, which used to meet Iraq’s domestic needs and those of the Gulf states a few decades ago, has slumped and many farmers cultivated the crop for their own needs. </p> <p>Iraqi rice is known for its fragrance and excellent flavor. Today it has turned into something like a delicacy. </p> <p>Iraqi cereal imports are expected to reach 5 million tons this year. </p> <p>Agriculture Ministry officials blame low water levels in the Euphrates and the Tigris, but the country’s agriculture has suffered badly from decades of war and insecurity, underinvestment and the unchecked felling of trees, particularly date-palms in southern Iraq. </p> <p>Iraq’s date-palm groves are estimated to have lost more than 20 million trees. </p> <p>As a result, salinity now affects nearly half the arable land in central and southern Iraq. More arable land has been lost to desertification in other areas.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news/2010-06-10/kurd.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi farmers told to abandon cultivating rice</a> by Talib al-Zamili <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?code=ennewsen" class="external" target="_blank">Azzaman in English</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10959"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/%d9%86%d9%82%d8%b5-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87-%d9%8a%d9%87%d8%af%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85/#respond" title="Comment on نقص المياه يهدد استقرار العراق على المدى الطويل">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 6th, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/%d9%86%d9%82%d8%b5-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87-%d9%8a%d9%87%d8%af%d8%af-%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to نقص المياه يهدد استقرار العراق على المدى الطويل">نقص المياه يهدد استقرار العراق على المدى الطويل</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-decline-of/" rel="tag">Agriculture decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-sector/" rel="tag">agriculture sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arable-land/" rel="tag">arable land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barley/" rel="tag">barley</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desert/" rel="tag">desert</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desert-areas/" rel="tag">desert areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/euphrates-river/" rel="tag">Euphrates river,</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hydroelectric-dams/" rel="tag">hydroelectric dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ibrahim-madlool/" rel="tag">Ibrahim Madlool</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-systems/" rel="tag">irrigation systems</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ramadi/" rel="tag">Ramadi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity-excessive/" rel="tag">Salinity - excessive</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sewage/" rel="tag">sewage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-contamination/" rel="tag">Water Contamination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/western-anbar/" rel="tag">western Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat/" rel="tag">wheat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat-barley/" rel="tag">wheat barley</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote> <p>الرمادي (العراق) (رويترز) – ينحي عبد الله حسن باللائمة في فساد محاصيله على نقص المياه المزمن ولا يثق كثيرا في أن الحكومة الجديدة ستستطيع احياء قطاع الزراعة بالعراق الذي دمرته الحرب ويعاني من قلة الاستثمارات.</p> <p>عبد الله (50 عاما) اب لخمسة ابناء ويعيش بالفلوجة في محافظة الانبار بغرب العراق وقد اضطر للتخلي عن زرع أفدنته الخمسين والحصول على عمل بقطاع البناء بعد أن قضت سنوات الجفاف على محاصيله من القمح والشعير والطماطم ( البندورة) والخيار والبطيخ.</p> <p>ولا يحدوه امل كبير في العودة الى الزراعة التي كانت مصدر دخله الاساسي على مدى 35 عاما وينوي بيع جزء من أرضه مع استمرار تراجع مستويات المياه في الانهار والخزانات مما يرفع تركيز الملوثات في المياه.</p> <p>وقال "يسوء وضع التربة يوما بعد يوم لان مستوى الملوحة يزيد والخصوبة تقل. هذا مثل السرطان الذي يصيب جسم الانسان."</p> <p> <a title="drought_anbar" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4675228808/" class="external" target="_blank"><img alt="drought_anbar" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105im_/http://static.flickr.com/4047/4675228808_c81b6a0ab2.jpg" border="0"/></a> <p>وبعد الاضرار التي سببتها عقود من الحرب والعقوبات يعاني العراق من نقص حاد في المياه يتوقع أن يتفاقم مع نمو سكانه الذين يبلغ عددهم نحو 30 مليونا.</p> <p>وتغلب على العراق مساحات من الصحراء القاحلة لكن به أحد اكثر أنظمة الري اتساعا في العالم غير أن سنوات الحرب ونقص الاستثمارات والعقوبات حالت دون استغلاله القليل الذي تبقى من المياه.</p> <p>ويوفر نهرا دجلة والفرات وهما النهران الرئيسيان بالعراق القليل من الغوث للسهول الجافة لان السدود الكهرومائية في تركيا وايران وسوريا المجاورة قللت من تدفق المياه.</p> <p>والاستثمار في البنية التحتية المتهالكة مثل مضخات المياه ضروري لقطاعات رئيسية كالزراعة والنفط فضلا عن جهود اعادة الاعمار الاوسع نطاقا بعد سبع سنوات من الغزو الذي قادته الولايات المتحدة وأطاح بالرئيس صدام حسين.</p> <p>وكانت محافظة الانبار وهي منطقة صحراوية شاسعة من المناطق التي تضررت بشكل خاص. وأصبحت مساحات كبيرة من الاراضي التي كانت صالحة للزراعة على نهر الفرات غير مستخدمة لعدم كفاية طرق ضخ المياه النظيفة في التربة.</p> <p>وتقول الامم المتحدة انه يتم صرف نحو 83 في المئة من مياه الصرف الصحي دون معالجة في المجاري المائية فيما تقدر الحكومة أن 24 بالمئة من العراقيين لا يحصلون على مياه امنة.</p> <p>وتعمل الحكومة مع خبراء أمريكيين محاولة انشاء محطات للمعالجة وبحيرات صناعية لتنقية المياه الملوثة.</p> <p>وأنفق فريق اعادة اعمار محافظة في الانبار -وهي وحدة أنشأتها الولايات المتحدة للمساعدة في اعادة بناء العراق- اكثر من 100 مليون دولار لبناء وصيانة منشآت المعالجة ويتوقع أن تتوفر المياه النظيفة لنحو 97 بالمئة من السكان بحلول نهاية العام.</p> <p>ويعيش نحو 90 بالمئة من سكان الانبار البالغ عددهم 1.4 مليون نسمة على امتداد نهر الفرات حيث انخفضت مستويات المياه انخفاضا حادا. وكان متوسط معدل التدفق بالنهر الف متر مكعب في الثانية قبل اقامة سدود وتباطؤ معدل التدفق فيه الى 290 مترا مكعبا في الثانية في أغسطس اب الماضي وهو أدنى مستوياته منذ ستة أعوام.</p> <p>ويقول مسؤولون عراقيون ان منشات الصرف الصحي غير كافية ويشيرون الى أن تكلفة انشاء نظام للصرف الصحي في بلدة الرمادي تبلغ 400 مليون دولار على الاقل.</p> <p>وتساءل ابراهيم مدلول مدير ماء الانبار "أين سنجد المستثمرين الذين سيأتون ويستثمرون 400 مليون دولار في مشروع كهذا.."</p> <p>وأضاف أنه يتطلع الى مساندة الحكومة المركزية لدعم مشاريع بهذا الحجم.</p> <p>وقد يطول الانتظار.. فالعراق يعيش حالة من التشكك السياسي منذ انتخابات السابع من مارس اذار التي لم تسفر عن فائز واضح.</p> <p>وقد يستغرق تشكيل حكومة جديدة عدة اشهر وسيعني هذا تأجيل المشاريع الجديدة التي تحتاج الى موافقة الحكومة.</p> <p>ومن المتوقع أن تركز الحكومة الجديدة على تحسين الخدمات الاساسية بما في ذلك التفاوض على مزيد من امدادت المياه من الجيران والتركيز على ترشيد استهلاك المياه القليلة التي لدى العراق.</p> <p>ويهدد نقص المياه تطوير حقول النفط في العراق الذي يتمتع بثالث اكبر احتياطي في العالم والذي عقد في العام الماضي صفقات يمكن أن تدفعه الى مصاف كبريات الدول المنتجة.</p> <p>فيجب ضخ كميات كبيرة من المياه تحت الارض للحفاظ على الضغط عند استخراج النفط. ويحتاج انتاج برميل واحد من النفط الى نحو 1.6 برميل من المياه.</p> <p>ويعتبر تطوير الزراعة وقطاع النفط -الذي يعمل به عدد يزيد عن عدد العاملين في أي قطاع اخر- ضروريا لصرف الشبان العاطلين عن التشدد مع تعافي العراق من أعمال العنف الطائفي التي شهدها عامي 2006 و2007 .</p> <p>لكن عبد الله الذي يجني الفي دينار (1.71 دولار) في اليوم من عمله بالبناء لا يتوقع تحسنا كبيرا مع تولي الحكومة الجديدة.</p> <p>وقال "لا أظن أن صحوة حكومية ستحدث خاصة بعد اكثر من سبع سنوات من هذا التدهور… لست متفائلا."</p> <p>من سيرينا تشودري</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://ara.reuters.com/article/topNews/idARACAE6550BN20100606?sp=true" class="external" target="_blank">نقص المياه يهدد استقرار العراق على المدى الطويل | أخبار الشرق الأوسط | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10957"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/lack-of-water-threatens-iraqs-long-term-stability-reuters/#respond" title="Comment on Lack of water threatens Iraq’s long-term stability | Reuters">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 6th, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/lack-of-water-threatens-iraqs-long-term-stability-reuters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Lack of water threatens Iraq’s long-term stability | Reuters">Lack of water threatens Iraq’s long-term stability | Reuters</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-decline-of/" rel="tag">Agriculture decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture-sector/" rel="tag">agriculture sector</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arable-land/" rel="tag">arable land</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/barley/" rel="tag">barley</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desert/" rel="tag">desert</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desert-areas/" rel="tag">desert areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/desertification/" rel="tag">Desertification</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/euphrates-river/" rel="tag">Euphrates river,</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hydroelectric-dams/" rel="tag">hydroelectric dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ibrahim-madlool/" rel="tag">Ibrahim Madlool</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation-systems/" rel="tag">irrigation systems</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ramadi/" rel="tag">Ramadi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salinity-excessive/" rel="tag">Salinity - excessive</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanctions/" rel="tag">Sanctions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sewage/" rel="tag">sewage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/underinvestment/" rel="tag">underinvestment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-contamination/" rel="tag">Water Contamination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-levels/" rel="tag">water levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-pumps/" rel="tag">water pumps</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/western-anbar/" rel="tag">western Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat/" rel="tag">wheat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wheat-barley/" rel="tag">wheat barley</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>Iraq (<a title="Reuters" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6550H720100606?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=401" class="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a>) – Abdullah Hasan blames chronic water shortages for ruining his crops and has little faith a new government will be able to revive Iraq’s agriculture sector, shattered by war and starved of investment.</p> <p>The 50-year-old father of five from Falluja in western Anbar province was forced to abandon his 50 acres of land and take a job in construction after years of drought killed off his wheat, barley, tomato, cucumber and watermelon harvests.</p> <p> <a title="drought_anbar" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/4675228808/" class="external" target="_blank"><img alt="drought_anbar" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105im_/http://static.flickr.com/4047/4675228808_c81b6a0ab2.jpg" border="0"/></a> <p>He has little hope of returning to farming — his primary source of income for 35 years — and plans to sell some of his land as water levels in rivers and reservoirs continue to drop, increasing the concentration of pollutants in the water.</p> <p>"Day after day, the soil situation is deteriorating because the level of salt is increasing and fertility is decreasing. It’s like a cancer hitting the human body," Hasan said.</p> <p>Already damaged by decades of war and sanctions, Iraq has acute water shortages which are expected to worsen as its population of around 30 million grows.</p> <p>A country dominated by arid desert landscapes, it has one of the most extensive irrigation systems in the world but years of war, underinvestment and sanctions have prevented it from properly harnessing what little water it has left.</p> <p>Iraq’s main rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, provide little relief to the parched plains as hydroelectric dams in neighbouring Turkey, Iran and Syria have stemmed the water flow.</p> <p>Investment in dilapidated infrastructure like water pumps is vital for key industries like agriculture and oil, as well as the broader reconstruction effort seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.</p> <h3>SEWAGE THREAT</h3> <p>Parched Anbar province, a vast desert area, has been hit particularly hard. Large areas of formerly arable land by the Euphrates have become unusable because of insufficient methods to pump clean water through the soil.</p> <p>The United Nations says around 83 percent of sewage is being discharged untreated into waterways, while the government estimates 24 percent of Iraqis do not have access to safe water.</p> <p>Working with U.S. experts, the government is trying to build treatment plants and biological lagoons to clean polluted water.</p> <p>In Anbar, a Provincial Reconstruction Team — a unit set up by the United States to help rebuild Iraq — has spent over $100 million (69 million pounds) to build and maintain treatment facilities and expects 97 percent of residents to have clean water by year’s end.</p> <p>Around 90 percent of Anbar’s 1.4 million people live along the Euphrates, where water levels have dropped dramatically. The river had an average flow rate of 1,000 cubic metres per second before being dammed and slowed to 290 cubic metres per second last August — its lowest level in six years.</p> <p>Iraqi officials say sewage facilities in Anbar are insufficient. A sewage system for the town of Ramadi would cost at least $400 million, they say.</p> <p>"Where are we going to find investors who will come and invest $400 million in a project like that?" said Ibrahim Madlool, the director general of water for Anbar province.</p> <p>"We are looking for support from the central government to support us in projects of this magnitude."</p> <h3>POLITICAL VOID</h3> <p>The wait may be long. Iraq has been in political limbo since a March 7 election produced no outright winner.</p> <p>It could take months before a new government is formed and that means delays in new projects that need cabinet approval.</p> <p>The new government is expected to focus on improving basic services, including negotiating more water supplies from neighbours and focussing on efficient use of the little water Iraq has.</p> <p>The lack of water threatens development of the oilfields. Iraq has the world’s third-largest reserves and struck deals last year which could propel it to major producer status.</p> <p>But large volumes of water must be pumped under ground to maintain pressure as oil is extracted. Production of a barrel of oil requires around 1.6 barrels of water.</p> <p>Developing agriculture and the oil sector, which employs more people than any other industry, are seen as crucial for keeping unemployed youth away from the insurgency as Iraq recovers from the sectarian bloodshed of 2006 and 2007.</p> <p>But Hasan, who earns 2,000 dinars ($1.71) a day in construction, expects little improvement from a new government.</p> <p>"I don’t believe that a conscious government awakening will happen, especially after more than seven years of this deterioration," he said. "I am not optimistic."</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6550H720100606?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=401" class="external" target="_blank">Lack of water threatens Iraq’s long-term stability | Reuters</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125071105/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a 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