With rising temperatures and day after day, the effects of drought and reduced river and marsh water levels become more visible. The farmers and livestock owners are most vulnerable to drought and reduced water levels, mostly caused by lack of precipitation and building of dams by Iraq’s regional neighbors, such as Turkey and Iran, and lack of proper use of agricultural water.

Alaa Badran, a member of the Iraqi Committee for Restoring Marshes, told KurdSat, “The drought rate has reached 50% to 60%. And of course, if the current precipitation rate continues till the end of the year and regional neighbors continue to withhold waters, the situation becomes worse, it will affect livestock, birds, and fish resources. Turkish dams have caused serious damage to Iraqi marshes because of more than 40 billion cubic meters of water. Turkey stores water in dams, especially those built on the Euphrates River.

Drought and reduced water levels are visible in southern Iraq. Hundreds of dunams of arable land have entirely dried out.

Razaq Abdul Jabbar, a farmer and cattle owner in the southern Iraqi marshlands, said, “Marsh inhabitant are faced with danger more than ever. The salinity of the region’s water has increased. In some areas, the water depth has dropped to 40 centimeters, while previously it was not less than two meters. The water salinity sickens the cattle and reduces their milk produce. It has decreased, and the number of migratory birds and fish have decreased sharply.”

Reduced water levels have led to a complete drying out of the region’s streams. Inhabitants of the marshlands ask for immediate action and believe that the Iraqi government is too weak to convince neighboring countries to open their dams and revive the marshlands once again,