Iraq asks Egypt, Italy to upgrade irrigation systems

 

Wasal Mustafa

 

Azzaman, 2004-09-27

 

The Ministry of Water Resources has asked both Italy and Egypt for help to clean canals and construct new dams in the country.

 

Rainfall is erratic in Iraq and most of its cultivated land relies on irrigation.

 

But water logging and salinity are said to have slashed the irrigated lands in the country by almost half.

 

Water Resources Minister Abdul-latif Jamal has held meetings with the Italian and Egyptian ambassadors to Baghdad to convey to them the country’s willingness to boost cooperation in fields of irrigation.

 

Iraq is considering resuming work on the strategic Bakhma Dam in the north and officials are exploring ways to finance the project.

 

Work on the dam had started in the late 1980s but came to a halt after the 1991 Gulf War.

 

The minister said Iraq would like Italy to complete the construction.

 

The Egyptian ambassador, Farouk Mabrouk, has said his country was willing to offer whatever assistance Iraq needed to upgrade its irrigation systems.

 

“We are ready to share our experience and knowledge regarding the dredging and cleaning of irrigation canals,” he said.

 

Iraq has some of the world’s oldest irrigation systems and historical records trace them to 7500 years ago.

 

Successive governments have tried to develop the country’s water storage facilities like dams to regulate the flow of water from the two main rivers – the Tigris and Euphrates.

 

The irrigation potential of the two rivers has increased significantly but many dams and canals are in need of maintenance and repairs.

 

With volume of water released from upstream countries becoming less and less over the years, the issue of storage and the use of economical ways of irrigation have become all the more important.