ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A contract to implement a strategic water project, connecting Dukan Lake to Sulaimani was signed on Sunday at a cost of $423 million, solving the water shortage problem in the city for the next three decades, as it is designed to provide 480,000 cubic meters of water per day.
“Our plan is to start the project within a month and a half after [finalizing] some administrative procedures,” Hazhar Majid, director of Habika company told Rudaw on Sunday.
Majid said the $423 million project is 122 kilometers long and should be completed within two and a half years.
A ceremony was held at the Ministry of Municipalities in Erbil on Sunday to sign the contract with the implementing company.
The Dukan-Sulaimani Line 3 Project receives water from the Dukan Lake’s water resources.
“We can only meet half of the water demand due to reduction of water sources,” Bakhtiar Tahir, director of the Sulaimani Water Office told Rudaw, adding “with the completion of all phases of the project, the water shortage problem will be solved.”
Currently, 15 neighborhoods in Sulaimani, or about 15 percent of the city, do not have a water network and are supplied with water by tankers once a week, and thousands of households buy water by tankers.
The mega water project in Sulaimani is similar to that of Erbil, called the Rapid Water Emergency Project, which will also address water scarcity in the Kurdistan Region’s capital city for the next three decades. The Erbil water project, launched by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in September 2024, is to finish in November, and begin supplying neighborhoods in December, according to Ari Ahmed, head of the Kurdistan Region’s water and sewerage department.
These strategic projects in Sulaimani and Erbil come as Iraq faces its worst water crisis in decades. The country consumes more than 80 percent of its available supply and is ranked among the 25 most water-stressed nations in the world, according to the World Resources Institute.
Iraq relies heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but large Turkish dam projects, including the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), have cut flows to less than 40 percent of historic levels. Reduced rainfall, rising temperatures, upstream dams, and years of mismanagement have deepened the crisis.
In July, Turkey pledged to increase releases into the rivers by 420 cubic meters per second following a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani. Iraqi officials later said Ankara did not fulfill the commitment, though Turkish officials told Rudaw in August that Iraq had expressed satisfaction with the flows.
Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable to climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the UN. It is facing a severe water shortage because of reduced precipitation, higher temperatures, and waste mismanagement.