Logo
8 out of 11 Articles
Syria

After Years of Drought, Dams Across Syria and Iraq Are Now Full

After more than a decade of punishing drought that left wells dry and pushed millions across the region toward crisis, the dams of Syria and Iraq are full once again. From Turkey down through Syria and Iraq, reservoirs and lakes have refilled, and the pressing concern has shifted from scarcity to flooding, with rising waters pushing some bridges over the Euphrates out of service in Syria.

Groundwater levels in eastern Syria had fallen by as much as 60 percent during the long dry years, while the Mosul dam in Iraq declined and the vast Lake Tharthar shrank; in Iran, Lake Urmia had already dried out entirely. The reversal has been dramatic enough that Syrian authorities, working together with Turkey, moved to reduce the volume of water flowing into Syrian territory along the Euphrates in order to address high levels in the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces. Engineers cut the flow through the Euphrates Dam by 100 cubic meters per second by partially closing one of the spillway gates.

Syria's Ministry of Energy said its technical teams had begun operational measures to gradually lower water levels along the course of the river, and reported that conditions were returning toward normal. Officials indicated the gradual reduction would continue in step with the declining inflows arriving from the Turkish side. The flooding and the shifting water flows reveal that the region is no longer locked on a one-way path toward drought, and that such trends can in fact be reversed for Syria, Iraq, and Iran alike.

(JPost/VFI News)

“For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” – Isaiah 35:6