Haditha Lake: A 60% drop and a nation's thirst

Shafaq News

16-05-2025

Shafaq News/ Water levels at Haditha Lake have plunged to historic lows, now holding less than 40% of the volume recorded in the early 2000s.
According to local experts, the situation cannot be explained by seasonal drought alone. The crisis reflects a deeper and more complex reality shaped by shifting regional water policies, climate change, and the growing impact of upstream dam operations stretching from al-Anbar's plains to the mountainous regions of southeastern Turkiye.
A Shrinking Lifeline
Haditha Lake, located in Iraq's western Al-Anbar province, was formed in 1987 following the construction of the Haditha Dam, Iraq's second-largest hydroelectric facility after the Mosul Dam.
Stretching nine kilometers, the dam was designed to store over 8.2 billion cubic meters of water and produce up to 660 megawatts of electricity. The reservoir supports irrigation, electricity generation, and fisheries, while helping regulate the flow of the Euphrates River.
Today, water levels have fallen below 3 billion cubic meters, a critical threshold that endangers both agricultural output and energy production. Satellite data from NASA's GRACE mission, alongside figures from Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources, indicate that Haditha Lake has lost more than 60% of its total volume over the past 15 years.
Once a strategic buffer during seasonal droughts, the lake now reflects Iraq's broader water vulnerability. Dry lakebeds have expanded by nearly 40% in the last decade, and shoreline retreat is visible in satellite imagery. Agricultural zones fed by canals from the reservoir have seen crop yields decline by more than 40%, particularly for wheat, barley, and tomatoes.
Farmers monitored by the Euphrates Environmental Observatory have reported growing salinity in irrigation channels due to stagnant water and rising mineral concentrations. Soil fertility continues to decline, and with it, the diversity of crops. 'We used to grow six or seven crops; now we're lucky if we can plant two,' one displaced farmer from the Haditha basin recalled to Shafaq News.
Fishing communities that once flourished along the lake's edge are now facing collapse. The General Authority for Fisheries Resources reports a 70% drop in fish stocks, driven by intensified evaporation, warmer waters, and shrinking habitats. Since 2020, more than 400 families who depended on fishing have lost their primary source of income.
The impact on electricity has also been severe. The Haditha Dam is currently operating at less than 30% of its designed capacity, exacerbating power shortages across western Iraq. Engineers warn that if levels decline by another 500 million cubic meters, turbine operations may grind to a halt.
Experts fear the reservoir could soon lose its function entirely, devolving into a shallow, stagnant basin vulnerable to algal blooms and ecological collapse.
The head of an Environmental Observatory in Al-Anbar, Ahmad Al-Jumaili (Pseudonym), described the situation as 'dire,' attributing the sharp drop in water levels to increasingly erratic rainfall patterns within Iraq and declining cross-border inflows from Turkiye, where major dams tightly regulate the Euphrates' upper course.
Turkiye's Dams, Iraq's Drain
The long-running water dispute between Iraq and Turkiye is deeply shaped by the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), a sweeping Turkish development initiative that began in the late 1970s and expanded rapidly over the following decades. Designed to transform the southeast of Turkiye through hydropower and irrigation, the project has fundamentally altered the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
GAP encompasses 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants, giving Turkiye control over roughly 90% of the Euphrates' flow before it crosses into Syria and Iraq. This upstream dominance has provided Ankara with significant leverage.
The centerpiece of the project, the Atatürk Dam, began operating in 1992 with a massive storage capacity of 48.7 billion cubic meters, nearly six times that of Iraq's Haditha Dam. Since then, Iraq has experienced a sharp and often severe drop in its annual Euphrates inflow, with reductions exceeding 50% in some years compared to 1970s levels.
While the project has irrigated more than 1.8 million hectares in southeastern Turkiye and stimulated regional economic growth, Iraq and Syria have borne the brunt of its consequences. Flow regulation and seasonal withholding have left downstream communities increasingly vulnerable. In the summer of 2021, Iraq received only 35% of its expected share from the Euphrates, triggering emergency water rationing across several provinces.
Despite repeated rounds of negotiations, Iraq and Turkiye have never reached a binding agreement on water sharing. Turkiye continues to regulate the Euphrates' flow on its own terms. A 1987 protocol with Syria and a 2009 memorandum with Iraq outlined general cooperation frameworks, but neither included enforcement mechanisms.
Efforts to set fixed water quotas or establish a joint management body have repeatedly stalled. Ankara insists it needs flexibility to meet its agricultural and energy demands. It also refuses to classify the Euphrates as an international river, referring to it instead as a transboundary watercourse, a position that denies Iraq and Syria any legal claim to guaranteed water shares under international law.
Failing Systems
The water crisis in Iraq is shaped not only by upstream restrictions but also by deepening domestic and environmental pressures. The United Nations ranks Iraq among the five countries most vulnerable to climate change, with declining rainfall and advancing desertification now transforming the landscape.
In major agricultural regions, rainfall has dropped by more than 30% over the past two decades, based on data from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Meanwhile, desertification threatens nearly 40% of the country's land area, undermining food production, destabilizing rural communities, and accelerating ecological degradation.
At the same time, Iraq's internal water management system remains plagued by inefficiencies. Massive evaporation losses, aging canal networks, and outdated irrigation practices continue to drain resources. According to the World Bank, inefficient water use in agriculture alone accounts for up to 60% of total losses.
Even when water supplies are relatively stable, much of it goes unused or wasted due to limited infrastructure and weak institutional oversight. 'There is no longer any room for mismanagement,' Al-Jumaili told Shafaq News. 'Without efficient systems in place, every drop lost carries a growing cost.'
These mounting challenges are driving the country toward a prolonged era of scarcity. Projections from the Ministry of Water Resources warn that if current patterns persist, Iraq could see a 30% decline in usable water by 2035. This comes as the population is expected to exceed 50 million within the next decade, intensifying demand while supplies diminish.
With these risks looming, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani is expected to raise water-sharing concerns during his upcoming visit to Turkiye. He aims to push for a more balanced distribution of the Euphrates River's flow. Still, many observers remain cautious. Without enforceable agreements, reliance on verbal understandings or political goodwill offers little security.
The Observatory head stressed the need to elevate water management to a core national policy. He called for a strategic shift in regional diplomacy, pointing to Iraq's position as one of Turkiye's largest importers. 'This economic relationship provides leverage that can be used to press for a fair deal on shared waters,' he explained. 'Transboundary water access is a legal right, not a favor to be requested.'
He also underscored the stakes of inaction: 'Securing Iraq's rightful water share is a patriotic responsibility. Without collective resolve and coordinated leadership, the country's agricultural base and long-term water stability are at serious risk.'