Abstract
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has more water resources than the rest of Iraq to the point that it can be water sufficient if water resources are well managed, nevertheless these resources are currently facing depletion and they are increasingly polluted. This paper reviews water use practice in KRI and its existing laws on water from the sustainability point of view. It finds that the current practice of water use is devastating to water sustainability and that the laws need further improvement and better enforcement on the ground.
Introduction
KRI receives the largest portion of the annual precipitation in Iraq. The high mountain ranges in the east and north-eastern areas of KRI help to gather clouds and increase precipitation. Rain and snow from the late autumn to early spring add significantly to the region’s water resource to an extent that if they are collected properly KRI can be water-sufficient without much need for the increasingly unreliable river waters coming from the neighbouring states, and Iraq as a whole will be better off. Yet, KRI water use practice lacks sustainability; rainwater is largely unharvested; surface water and groundwater are excessively and unreasonably exploited in many areas and they are wasted and contaminated in huge volume. 1
The government of KRI, formally known as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has laws and regulation to manage water resources, both surface water and groundwater. But the laws need to be developed further to adequately address all the important aspects of water in relation to sustainability, and more importantly they need to be well enforced on the ground; the current practice of water use is detrimental to the present and future availability of water, in both quantity and quality, in KRI.
Unsustainable use of water exposes KRI to all sorts of danger now but more in the future. KRI is located in an area widely identified by NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government and responsible for space programmes and research) as an area where freshwater is dangerously being depleted. 2 KRI is also part of the developing world where the usage of water exceeds the capacity of the water resource. 3
Demand for water in KRI has been on the rise since the beginning of its economic development in the early 2000, a process that has led to the expansion of the urban areas and the increase of industrial and agricultural activities. KRI had gained its semi-autonomous status in 1992 when the Western powers, mainly the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France, established a no-fly-zone to protect its population from the then Iraqi government military aggressions. KRI remained under two economic embargos up until 2003— one embargo was imposed by the United Nations on the whole Iraq and the other was imposed by the Iraqi government on KRI— when the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein was removed from power by the United States and its allies. KRI then opened up for business and trade with the outside world and its status as a self-administered region within Iraq was recognised in the new Iraqi constitution which was approved in a national referendum in 2005. 4
KRI consists of three governorates, Sulaymaniyah (also spelt as Sulaimani or Slemani), Erbil, which is the administrative capital of KRI, and Duhok. It covers an area of around 40,000 km2 and has a population of over 5 million. The Kurds constitute the majority of its inhabitants along with other ethnic and religious minorities. KRI neighbours are Iran on the east, Turkey on the north and Iraq, which is the mainland, on the west and south. KRI is largely mountainous with several fertile plains between the mountains. 5 Large areas of KRI depend on the rivers coming from Iran and Turkey, however KRI has its own water resources but they are not developed or used well.
This paper briefly reviews the concept of water sustainability and lays down criteria for KRI water sustainability. It looks at some examples of the current water use practice in various sectors and evaluates them against sustainability. It then reviews the laws and regulation that KRG has issued on water and water-related issues and identifies the problems in relation to sustainability; sustainability as a principle is expected to be present in the environmental laws and policy of a nation. 6
Water is increasingly getting stressed in KRI. KRI’s growing population and economic activity have significantly increased demand on water. This factor and the uncertainties created by climate change make a sustainable use of water an ever more pressing matter. This paper is an attempt to integrate sustainability into water law and water use practice in KRI so that the current and future generations in the region have a more secure access to freshwater.
Sustainability
Sustainability does not have a fixed definition which can be right for everything in all places and at all times, neither it has a fixed set of criteria. However, the given definitions, explained below, can clarify the concept and help to establish certain criteria for it. We will follow that line and also explain our levels of analysis for water sustainability in KRI.
Water sustainability is defined in a report by the United Nations (UN) World Water Assessment Programme as that ‘water resources and water services are able to satisfy the changing demand placed on them, now and into the future, without system degradation’. 7 Water is a limited resource and it is vulnerable to changes, it will be degraded when it is mismanaged, therefore it must be used carefully and frugally to meet the needs now and in the future.
Water must also resist the extreme weather changes such as flood and scarcity, and it must preserve its quality. This requires the water infrastructure to be well installed, observed and maintained and the right water policy be pursued to obtain the satisfactory level of water sustainability. And when used by households, farms or industries it must be treated, cleaned as much as possible, and used again in irrigation, for example park irrigation, industrial and other municipalactivities. 8
According to the definition of the United Nations Economic and Social Council for sustainability, water use is sustained when the water needs of the future generations are not compromised by satisfying the water needs of the present generation. 9 Thus, water sustainability can be achieved when the needs of the present and future generations are met identically. That is, the way water is used and the amount that is used must be in a manner that can best guarantee the same water quality and quantity for the future generations.
The needs of a person for freshwater change from time to time and from one place to another. Obviously, people in the hot climate regions need more water than people in moderate or cold climate regions; more water is needed for bathing, for cooling and for drinking ... etc. A minimum 20 to 50 litres of daily water per capita is believed to be adequate for sustaining life, 10 so in KRI a maximum 50 litres may be needed per capita in summer but lesser than this is needed in other seasons. Sustainability in this sense is the ability to provide adequate water to every person continuously without depleting the resource.
Sustainability is identified as a principle of the environmental policy by Sharon Beder. According to her, this principle was ‘developed over the past half century’ and derived out of many international treaties and agreements on the environment, and it is broadly accepted all round the world. Sustainability as a principle has been incorporated into the United Nations’ agendas. Similarly, sustainability needs to be incorporated into the national environmental laws and policies in every country so that the natural resources, including water, are prevented from depletion and serious pollution. 6
Water sustainability can be analysed at three levels: at the level of water source, at the level of consumption and at the level of infrastructure. In KRI, the water sources are surface water and groundwater. The surface water is available as rain and snow, local and international rivers and streams, springs, karezes and waterfalls— karez or kariz, also called qanat or aqueduct, is a subterranean water system close to the earth’s surface. The groundwater is available in many areas in KRI and it is accessed by water wells, mainly artesian and tube wells. Water sustainability can also be analysed at the level of consumption; agricultural, industrial and domestic uses. It can also be analysed at the level of infrastructure; storages and pipelines, i.e. the supply system. We use these three levels of analysis in this research.
As we indicated before, water sustainability can mean different things in different places. For example, desalination is a way of increasing freshwater supply in some countries, those that are on the sea coast such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries 1 but it is not an option for a landlock country like KRI, or rainwater harvesting is an option for KRI but not for some GCC countries, hence characteristics of water sustainability change from one place to another. Regarding KRI, we can identify the following characteristics of water sustainability; i.e. when a sustainable use of water is achieved:
Surface water, which includes rainwater, snowmelt, rivers and streams, springs and waterfalls, must be harvested and collected at many sites and as much as possible; surface water and groundwater must be protected from all sorts of pollution and contamination; increasing reliance on the surface water and reducing reliance on the groundwater; groundwater withdrawal must be balanced with recovery and artificial recharging must be done where possible; water conservation must be carried out at all levels and a more frugal use of water must be adopted both by suppliers and receivers while the suppliers should remain committed to an adequate daily water per capita; and the policy of increasing supply must well be balanced against annual water availability and renewability.
Water sustainability at the source level
Rainwater constitutes a significant source of surface water in KRI. It also recharges aquifers and feeds crop farming and other agricultural activities. The high mountain ranges alongside KRI’s eastern and north-eastern borders receive annual precipitation, mainly rain but also snow, about 800 mm. This figure can be higher in some years, but the southern and south-western areas receive less than this, up to 300 mm in some areas. Generally, KRI receives about 500 mm of rain and snow annually. Precipitation usually occurs from the middle of autumn to the middle of spring. 1
Water sustainability is mainly lacking at this level in KRI. Most of the rainwater and snowmelt leave the region through the rivers and streams without being harvested. There are tens of suitable sites for building small and large dams and barriers, as studied by experts, to collect rainwater and snowmelt. Dams can be used for many purposes including water supply, irrigation, navigation, power generation, fish-breeding, and tourism. 11 They store water for the ironically rainy days— KRI receives no or insignificant precipitation from June to late October. Collecting water in the highlands of KRI increases both surface and groundwaterreserves. 12
Rivers constitute another significant source of surface water in KRI. There are local and international rivers in KRI, and this category can also be divided into temporary and permanent rivers. The main international rivers are the Upper Zab (also called the Great Zab, it is around 400 km long with an average discharge of 419 m3) which flows in Turkey, the Lower Zab (also called the Little Zab, it is around 400 km long with an average discharge of 197 m3) and Sirwan (also called Dyala, it is around 445 km long with an average discharge of 110 m3), the latter two rivers flow in Iran. The Upper Zab’s waters are not collected at any point in KRI and the other two rivers are only collected at one site each, and their waters are polluted to varying degrees. 13 There are also repeated interruptions or great decrease of the waters of the Lower Zab and Sirwan rivers every time Iran closes the dams built on these rivers in its territories. 14 The rivers are not regulated between the riparian states. 15 There is also the climate change factor which makes the flow of the rivers increasingly unpredictable. 16
The sustainability of the rivers in KRI means that their waters must be collected at as many sites as possible without harming the downriver people and ecology. It also means that appropriate measures must be taken all along the rivers to protect them from pollution and to clean them when they get polluted. Besides, maximum political and diplomatic efforts must be made to persuade the upstream states to agree on sharing the rivers with downstream KRI and to make them consider the provisions of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention especially the principles of ‘Equitable and reasonable utilization and participation’ and ‘Obligation not to cause significant harm’ to downstream people. 17
Water spring was once an important water source in KRI especially in the rural areas. It was the main source of water for thousands of villages in the region. There were also seasonal springs especially when precipitation was high. This important resource has now vastly vanished. The main cause is understood to be the decline of groundwater because of the change of weather pattern but more because of enormous number of water wells, artesian and tube water wells which have been built in the last two or three decades. According to Abdulstar Majeed, the former KRG Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, over 5,000 water springs in KRI have dried up due to the factors we have mentioned. 12
Another source of the surface water in KRI was karezes; subterranean or subsurface water channels or tunnels, an old and eco-friendly water system, which transports water from springs or aquifers to different points for drinking, domestic use and other purposes. The city of Sulaymaniyah, which is now home to nearly a million people and it is the second largest city in KRI, once had a big and complicated karez system under its surface, it was similar to the modern tube train system. However due to the expansion of the city, excessive pumping of the groundwater and the decrease of rainfall, most of the karezes have dried up 18 and the ones that are still active have their waters contaminated and not suitable for drinking. 19
Sustainability in the case of the springs and karezes is highly related to the stability of groundwater. However, the damage to the groundwater is so big that attempts to bring back the lost springs or karezes are likely to take many years.
KRI was very rich in groundwater, another and very important source of water. The groundwater was easily accessible in most places by hand-dug wells which were usually not deep. Also, the sheer existence of thousands of springs and plenty of karezes and waterfalls were all indication of the closeness of groundwater to the earth’s surface. KRI’s groundwater reserve is estimated to be between 4– 5 billion m3. 20 However, the KRG’s policy or rather lack of an appropriate and well executed policy has inflicted excessive damage upon this precious resource.
The shortage of water supply to households and the need for water in the farms and the rich families’ leisure houses in the countryside have led many people to resort to digging tube or artesian wells without having an official license. The director of groundwater in Sulaymaniyah Governorate has said that in his governate there are more than 15,000 unlicensed water wells and 9,601 licensed ones. 21 According to one source, the number unlicensed wells are double times higher than the announced figure. 22 These wells are too much for a governorate of 20,143 km2 and it creates a huge pressure on the groundwater.
KRG’s approach to water supply has led to a significant fall of the groundwater. KRG has been increasing supply from a finite resource to an increasing number of consumers who often use it disproportionately. This approach is more obvious in the case of water supply in Erbil Governorate which occupies an area of 14,872 km2. The biggest consumer is Erbil city which is the administrative capital of KRI and has over one million population.
Erbil’s groundwater was reachable within 120 m in the early 2000 s but after less than two decades the water level has dropped to approximately 330 m from the surface in some areas in the governorate. This has happened largely because of excessive pumping from thousands of water wells to supply water to the rapidly expanding city of Erbil and the towns and districts in other parts of the governorate. 23 It is important to note that the western and southwestern parts of Erbil are semi-arid areas and poor in water resource. The depletion of groundwater has occurred unevenly in KRI. In some parts of KRI, for example in some parts of Sulaymaniyah Governorate, groundwater is reachable within less than 50 m. 24
Generally, groundwater is a very important water resource in many parts of the world. It is counted for more than 50 per cent of the freshwater available in the world. Sustainability of this resource can be achieved through balancing between withdrawal and recovery; how much water is withdrawn and how much is recharged must be balanced at least or, preferably, withdrawal should be less than recovery. The recharging of the groundwater reservoir or aquifer can happen naturally from rainfall and snowmelt or water streams but it can also be done artificially by employing techniques such as cutwater, infiltration basins and canals, water traps ... etc. 25 There must also be continuous observation and change of planning to accommodate the changes occur in the aquifer’s water level and quality. 11 These measures are all aimed at protecting this resource from overuse and misuse.
Water sustainability at the consumer level
The three main consumers of water are generally households, agriculture and industry. Water conservation is more or less lacking at these three levels in KRI. Water supply to households is rationed— it is supplied every two, three or four days for an hour or two or maybe more— all the houses have water reserve tanks of various sizes on their rooftops to store water, however there is no device on the tanks to stop water from overflowing when the tanks get full; sometimes a lot of water is wasted in this way. Many households use water extravagantly; they use it to wash their cars, front and backyard floors and even the part of the street that is adjacent to their house. According to the Mayor of Sulaymaniyah, about 35 per cent of Sulaymaniyah drinking water is wasted after it reaches the houses. 26 The extravagancies are understood to come from the fact that the water price is very low and people can often evade paying their water bills.
Agriculture is the largest freshwater consumer in the world. It accounts for 70 per cent of freshwater use worldwide. 10 Agriculture and animal breeding are still two main occupations for many people in KRI. Crop agriculture, mainly wheat and barley, is rainfed but there are irrigated farms as well for which old irrigation technique is still employed— old irrigation relies on too much water for growing a limited amount of food. However, and increasingly in some farms, drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation are employed, and building polytunnels for growing fruits and vegetables is on the rise. 27
Industry and energy account for 20 per cent of water consumption at the global level. This figure is certainly smaller in KRI considering the size of the industry and energy sectors, yet the existing industries release large volumes of toxic effluent into the rivers and ditches. Tanjaro river in Sulaymaniyah Governorate is an example in that regard. The river is seasonal. It is about 80 km long. It gathers water from the middle of Sulaymaniyah Governorate and goes to Darbandikhan Lake which is located on the southeast of the governorate. The river is heavily contaminated to the extent that many of the species which were used to live in it have now disappeared, and it has unbearable odour in summer. 28 The river has polluted the groundwater in the adjacent areas and the water in the Darbandikhan Lake which is the source of drinking water for many people in both KRI and Iraq and a tributary of the Tigris River. 29 The Tigris River is the largest and most important river in Iraq.
Sustainability of water at households, where daily needs for water for drinking, cooking, bathing, sanitation ... etc. must be satisfied, requires raising the people’s awareness about the importance of water conservation at all times, it also requires appropriate pricing of water so that it becomes a deterrence against wasting water. It is the government’s responsibility to introduce measures for that matter and use the revenue it collects from pricing water to improve the water supply and restore the environmental damages occur as the result of water extraction and transportation. 30
There is also the issue of increasing water supply. The KRG’s solution to water shortage has been the increase of water supply often at the expense of the water resource, more specifically at the expense of the groundwater resource. There has been a huge increase of the number of tube and artesian wells funded by the government to satisfy the cities’ and towns’ increasing need for water. It seems that KRG has had only one solution to water shortage problem which is digging more water wells. 31 KRG should first resort to renewable surface water to increase supply, it should increase the sources of the surface water as we mentioned earlier, and any increase of supply should be accompanied by strict measures to reduce wasting water at all levels, otherwise any increase of supply will harm sustainability in the short and long terms. 30
Sustainability of water at agricultural farms can be achieved by increasing drip and sprinkler irrigations. 32 Rainwater can be harvested and used in dry seasons for irrigation. But it is of no doubt that it is against the principle of sustainability the current practice of water use by farmers in KRI of digging water wells and unrestrictedly withdrawing its water. This will also lead to questioning the logic of food production in KRI considering the volume of water used in the process. It might sometimes be economically and environmentally more sustainable to import food than produce it at home considering the volume of water needed for irrigation. 33 For example, KRI is more water stressed than the neighbouring Turkey, so it might be cheaper for KRI to import food from Turkey than to produce it at home considering the volume of water needed to be extracted and used in producing food. This way, more water can be saved.
Also, more freshwater can be saved for essential needs if waste water is recycled by treating it and using it for irrigating parks, green areas, and industrial products that are not made for human consumption. This process is largely absent in KRI; municipal sewage and effluents of farms and factories are released into the rivers, streams or ditches without any treatment. These wastes are highly contaminated with toxic materials which in turn contaminate the surface water and groundwater. They also pose serious risks to human health and the ecology as a whole. ‘Waste water is rich in carbon and nutrients and – if collected and treated properly – it could provide new water, fertiliser, and energy’. 34
Water sustainability at the infrastructure level
Water infrastructure in KRI consists mainly of water wells, water pipelines, municipal water reserve tanks and reservoirs. Water is pumped from wells or reservoirs and transported by pipeline to water tanks and from there it is distributed on households through a network and directly goes to water tanks installed on the houses’ rooftops. The houses that are not connected to the network, usually those that are located on the suburbs, get water by water tanker vehicles. Generally, water infrastructure is crucial for water sustainability; if it is properly installed, protected and maintained chances of water waste or contamination are reduced.
The reservoirs and the water transportation pipelines in KRI fall short of water sustainability. The two main reservoirs in KRI are created by Dukan and Darbandikhan dams which were both built in the early years of the second half of the twentieth century in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, the former is on the Lower Zab River with the maximum storage capacity of about 6.5 billion m3 and the latter is on the Sirwan River with the maximum storage capacity of 2.5 billion m3. Over the years, these reservoirs have collected great chunks of sediments and remnants of human activities at their bottoms; they have lost parts of their storage capacity and; above all, the waters collected by them are polluted with municipal, agricultural and industrial waste waters to an alarming level. 13,35 There have been no significant clearing efforts so far and there is no commitment by KRG to do such a thing in the future.
The water transportation pipelines from the source to the reserve tanks often break because of lack of safety measures; a lot of water is wasted every time breakage happens. The water supply pipeline of Sulaymaniyah is an example in that regard. The city gets its potable water largely from the Dukan Reservoir which is on the northeast of Sulaymaniyah city and far from it by 70 km. Due to human activities and problems like flood and fire the pipelines sometimes break and as a result huge volume of water escapes and water supply to the city is cut off for several days. 36, 37
Water law and regulation
By water law we mean the laws that have been issued by the Kurdistan Regional Parliament on water and water resources and by regulation we mean the policies and instructions that have been made by the KRG regarding the usage of water and water resources. Regulations are largely aimed at explaining and facilitating the laws and to make them implementable on the ground or to fill a void in them, and they must not contradict the laws or the constitution. KRI does not have a constitution of its own. It is under the authority of the Iraqi constitution. 4
KRG’s laws on water or laws on the environment which include water have evolved over the past years. More progressive and comprehensive laws have lately been passed. In this section we review and examine the laws and regulations on water and analyse them from the viewpoint of sustainability. We identify the shortcomings with regard to water sustainability.
Law No. 9 of 2006
Law No. 9 of 2006 (Law Number 9 in 2006; the ninth package of law in the year 2006) was the first law passed by the Kurdistan Parliament to regulate the tasks and responsibilities of the then KRG Ministry of Water Resources (the Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Agriculture were later combined and became one ministry, but Law No. 9 of 2006 stands valid). Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this law states that the Ministry will work for the development and investment in water resources to make the best use of water in the region. Paragraph 2 calls on the Ministry to raise the public’s awareness about the importance of water and its protection. Paragraph 3 is about the water supply to agricultural farms, households, and industries ... etc. Paragraph 5 states that the surface water and groundwater must be protected from ‘dirt’, and Paragraph 6 asks for the employment of modern methods to reduce wasting water in different sectors. 38
Paragraph 1 and 2 of this law are written in broad terms; a statement like ‘making the best use of water’ is vague and cannot simply be interpreted to mean sustainability. Paragraph 3 encourages the increase of supply to agricultural farms, households ... etc. This is good in one aspect which is that the needs of the farms for water would be satisfied, however, increasing supply is not a reasonable option from the sustainability point of view; water cannot be sustained in KRI if demand is only met by increasing supply. Agriculture needs to rely more and more on drip irrigation to save freshwater, and together with industry they need to increase their reliance on treated water— treated water is not available in any significant volume at the present time in KRI. Paragraph 5 is about the protection of the water resources from ‘dirt’, however, an alternative is pollutant which has a broader meaning than dirt, it is ‘a substance that pollutes’ while dirt is ‘any substance that makes a surface not clean’ according to the Cambridge Dictionary. 39
Law No. 10 of 2006
This law was issued to outline the responsibilities and duty of the then Ministry of Environment (this ministry was later dissolved and another body was founded in its place, but the law stands valid). It declares several purposes for its issuance: to protect and sustain the environment, the public health, and the natural resources and species; and to provide for sustainable development and bring about regional and international cooperation on environmental matters. 40
Paragraph 1 of Article 2 of this law states that the Ministry will make suggestions to the government regarding the environmental protection from pollution and improving its quality. Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 are about the sources of pollution, according to them it is necessity to have middle and long-term plans to protect and improve the quality of the environment. Paragraph 6 is about environmental safety which ought to be achieved by inspecting and investigating the possible sources of pollution and issuing regulations and observing their implementation to achieve the targeted goals. Paragraph 13 is about protecting and restoring nature and creating natural pastures. And the last paragraph, 14, is about considering the safety principles when treating trash and dangerous waste matters. 40
Matters such as protection of resources from pollution are relevant to water. For water to be sustainable it must first be protected from pollution, sources of water pollution must be removed and tackled, and the water that is polluted must be cleaned up so as to be used again. Once water is polluted, especially the groundwater, it will ‘remain affected for a very long time’. 41 This law requires to be developed further; to include articles on water in a direct manner, alternatively it can be detailed and elaborated further in a government regulation.
Law No. 8 of 2008
This is a more inclusive and progressive environmental law of KRG compared to the previous laws. It aims to: protect the environment and public health from pollution and harmful activities; use the natural resources modestly; make the environmental policy inseparable from other policies in all the state sectors; and raise the public awareness and responsibility toward the environment. 42
Other important provisions of this law are Article 22 which states that all sorts of pollutants are forbidden to be thrown into water sources if they are not treated; Article 23 which states that the regional standards will be applied in dealing with surface water and groundwater; Article 34 which states that the Ministry of Environment will identify, and change when needed, the level of permissible pollution of water; and Article 38 which states that any pesticides used in agricultural farms must be harmless to the environment. 42
This law mainly revolves around the notion of pollution prevention and limited use of the natural resources. The law needs to be expanded or clarified in a government regulation to identify water resources and provide the mechanisms for their protection from pollution and also how water can be used within limits.
Law No. 6 of 2010
In 2010 the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Water Resources were combined in one ministry called the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources for which Law No. 6 of 2010 was issued. Paragraph 3 under Article 2 of this law states that the ministry will work for building strategic projects such as dams, projects for irrigation and for the protection of surface water and groundwater, and Paragraph 14 mentions that the ministry will educate farmers on the best usage of water. 43
This law contains articles which directly address water. It provides for sustainability of water resource and water use practice. Projects aimed at storing or harvesting water and protecting surface and groundwaters, if well executed and managed, will create water security for the present and future generations.
Water regulation
Water regulations are generally defined as ‘rules and administrative codes issued by governmental agencies at all levels, municipal, county, state and federal’. 44 In the context of KRI jurisprudence, regulations are usually issued by the Ministerial Council, individual ministries or other government agencies to detail and facilitate the implementation of the laws made by the Parliament, i.e. to bring laws from a theoretical realm to a practical realm or to fill a void in the law. Regarding water, there is a KRG regulation which aimed at ending the chaotic situation of drilling the ground for water.
Regulation No. 1 of 2015, water well drilling
This regulation was issued in 2015 by the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources to regulate digging water wells in KRI. It was made in pursuance of Paragraph 3 of Article 5 of Law No. 6 of 2010 which was issued for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources. This regulation sets many rules for digging wells and makes the process of obtaining licence difficult. The most important provision of the regulation are as follows:
Article 2 of the regulation determines the distance which must exist between two water wells; it sets different distances for different areas in KRI depending on the assumed level of the existing groundwater, precipitation and recovery in that particular area, ranging from 250 to 600 m and the distance between a water well and a spring or karez must be at least 500 m according to Article 3. 45
Article 4 is about water wells for the irrigation purpose. It stipulates that only when the surface water does not serve anymore, when it is not available anymore, water wells can then be dug. Article 7 gives instructions in detail on the circumstances in which digging wells are allowed for the irrigation purpose. Those instructions make obtaining licence difficult and subjected to renewability. Paragraph 10 of this article says that ‘The well owner should install irrigation gauge on the well, and should only extract the requisite amount of water’. There is also penalty for those who do not adhere to license procedures; the water well will be backfilled and further financial penalties will be applied. 45
Article 10 states that obtaining license for groundwater withdrawal is conditional upon water recovery in the area; ‘if underground water level lowered or water quality and quantity changed’ then the authority ‘will stop licensing any pools’. Article 14 explains the various financial penalties for drilling wells without licence and the sort of actions that will be taken against the owners of the digging equipment. 45
This regulation was aimed at ending the widespread practice of digging water wells, mainly tube water wells in residential centres, farms, leisure houses in countryside and small and large businesses by regulating and limiting the extraction of the groundwater and determining who is permitted and how much water is allowed to be withdrawn. This was a necessary step though it came late, however its implementation matters most. This regulation is being largely ignored. There are tens of thousands of unlicensed water wells in KRI. 46,47 This situation is very dangerous for the groundwater; it will seriously deplete it. The depletion of the groundwater means that the present generation but more the future generations will be deprived from a very important source of water.
Conclusion
KRI is a distinguishable place in Iraq for its relative richness in water resources. It receives a higher annual precipitation than the rest of Iraq, an average of 500 mm. Its surface water also includes several rivers mainly flowing in the neighbouring countries and its groundwater is another significant water resource. Demand for water is rapidly rising in KRI due to the growing population, expansion of urban areas and increase of agricultural and industrial activities. Yet, the current practice of water use in KRI is detrimental to the present and future quality and quantity of water.
Water must be used in a sustainable manner at the three levels of source, consumption and infrastructure, and it must be protected from pollution; rainwater and snowmelt must be collected at suitable sites and managed carefully, wastewater of all sorts must be treated and reused in irrigation, industry and other suitable sectors; reliance on the groundwater must be reduced and groundwater withdrawal has to be minimised or brought down to the level of annual recharging of the aquifer and to be allowed only in those areas where the surface water is not attainable. These steps, if followed well, will secure freshwater for the present and future generations in KRI and increase Iraq’s water reserves as well. Water sustainability is a goal to be achieved by the world nations. Its attainment is more imperative in the water-stressed regions. Water is not a renewable resource; it is renewability is conditional upon an effective management. 48
KRG has laws on water and water resources. The laws have gradually improved in terms of incorporating the elements of sustainability. They generally address the issues of pollution and water preservation. Some of the water laws address other non-water issues and water is referred to in other laws on the environment. The existing laws need further improvement. New laws must be passed and old laws must be amended so that sustainability can be well addressed. The new laws and/or amended laws must address the water resource independently and directly by using a clear language and correct terminology. There must be a separate set of laws on the surface water, how to increase it through, for example, harvesting rain and storing more water coming from the neighbouring countries, and preserve it from pollution and over-exploitation. The same set of laws or a separate set of laws must address the groundwater, sources of its pollution and how to tackle them, its protection from further degradation and how to increase it through recharging the aquifers. The laws must also encourage a limited use, not increasing the supply, of water. Increasing the supply without increasing the resource is the opposite of sustainability.
Some of these proposed laws will need government regulations to be enforceable on the ground or to accommodate new situations. As this paper has found, KRG has a deficit of regulation regarding water usage and developing and protecting the water resources. Hence more regulations must be made, for example regulations on irrigation, agricultural and industrial runoffs, the treatment of municipal waters, improving and developing the water infrastructure, conserving water at the household level and at the level of other consumers such as places of worship which normally consume a great volume of water every day.
More importantly, KRG needs to pool its resources to put into practice the laws and regulations and to find and punish those who violate them. The current practice of water use in KRI is catastrophic; it pollutes and depletes the surface water and groundwater. The current practice of water use in KRI will soon lead to the scarcity of this precious resource and the degradation of its quality now but more in the future. Water is at the heart of life and development. KRG must address this mater urgently and put it on top of its agenda.
Footnotes
Abdulrahman, S.A. 2020, Water shortage in GCC countries: transferring water from Iraqi Kurdistan Region, International Journal of Environmental Studies 77(2):191– 207. DOI:10.1080/00207233.2019.1690335
Kurdistan Regional Government, 2017, Available at: http://cabinet.gov.krd/p/page.aspx?l=12&p=210.
Beder, S. 2006, Environmental Principles and Policies, UNSW Press, China.
Sustainable water: our essential guide to sustainable water resource management solutions & strategies, 2019, Aquateck. Available at: https://www.aquatechtrade.com/news/water-treatment/sustainable-water-essential-guide/#::text=Sustainable%20water%20means%20a%20nation,agriculture%20to%20municipal%20and%20industrial.&text=Sustainable%20water%20also%20means%20that,is%20as%20efficient%20as%20possible.
Abdulrahman, S.A. 2018, The drying up of the Lower Zab River and future water disputes between Iran, Kurdistan Region and Iraq, International Journal of Environmental Studies 75(1):29– 44. DOI:10.1080/00207233.2017.1406725
Abdulrahman, S.A. 2017, Failure to securitise environmental problems in Iraq: the case of the Alwand and Sirwan Rivers, International Journal of Environmental Studies 74(4):540– 557. DOI:10.1080/00207233.2017.1330493
Al-Manmi, D.A., Hamamin, D.F. and Salih, A.O. 2018, karezes, abandoned and endangered water resources in semi-arid regions: case study from Sulaymaniyah city, Iraq, Iraqi Bulletin of Geology and Mining 2019;15(1):1– 24.
Decrease of KRI groundwater causes water shortage problem, 2017, Xendan. Available at: https://www.xendan.org/detailnews.aspx?jimare=28481&babet=4&relat=7196.
Director of Sulaymaniyah Groundwater: there are about 15,000 unlicensed water wells in Sulaymaniyah, Wsha, 2019, Available at: http://wishe.net/details.aspx?=hewal&jmare=77244&Jor=2.
Decrease of KRI groundwater causes water shortage problem, 2017, Xendan. Available at: https://www.xendan.org/detailnews.aspx?jimare=28481&babet=4&relat=7196.
Sulaymaniyah wastes 35% of its drinking water, 2017, Wsha. Available at: http://www.wishe.net/details.aspx?=hewal&jmare=14724&Jor=8.
Sulaymani Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2017, Available at: http://www.sulcci.com/details.aspx?=hewal&jmare=7984&Jor=1.
Residents’ concerns over the pollution of their environment, 2019, AA. Available at: https://www.aa.com.tr/ks/%DA%98%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86/%D8%B3%D9%84%DB%8E%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%DB%8C%DA%AF%DB%95%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%DA%AF%DB%95%DA%95%DB%95%DA%A9%DB%8E%DA%A9-%D8%A8%DB%95-%DA%BE%DB%86%DB%8C-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%A8%D9%88%D9%88%D9%86%DB%8C-%DA%98%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF%DB%95%DB%8C-%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%88%DA%86%DB%95%DA%A9%DB%95%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%95%D9%88%DB%95/1454860.
Abdulrahman, S.A. 2019, The water paradox: overcoming the global crisis in water management, International Journal of Environmental Studies 76(4):714-719, DOI:10.1080/00207233.2019.1594237
Velasco-Muñoz, J.F., Aznar-Sánchez, J.A., Batlles-dela Fuente A. and Fidelibus, M.D. 2019, Sustainable Irrigation in Agriculture: An Analysis of Global Research, Water 11(9):1758. DOI: 10.3390/w11091758
Hess T. et al. Water use in our food imports, undated, Global Food Security. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjQgcT-sI7rAhUlShUIHS-5Dw0QFjAAegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foodsecurity.ac.uk%2Fpublications%2Fwater-use-food-imports.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3DLnT7smB6wj5Q9ew_y6yn.
Yousuf, M.A., Rapantova N. and Younis, J.H. 2018, Sustainable Water Management in Iraq (Kurdistan) as a Challenge for Governmental Responsibility, Water 10:651. DOI:10.3390/w10111651
Sulaymaniyah water: several areas will not receive water for a few days, 2020, NRT. Available at: https://nrttv.com/News.aspx?id=32814&MapID=1.
Part of Sarcham Drinking Water Project was burnt, 2019, Lvin. Available at: https://www.lvinpress.com/detailnews.aspx?jimare=11045&cor=1&related=2.
Law No. 9 of 2006, Law of the Ministry of Water Resources of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Available at: https://www.parliament.krd/media/2435/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%89-%DA%98%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%95-9-%D9%89-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DA%B5%D9%89-2006%D9%89-%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%89-%D9%88%DB%95%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%95%D8%AA%D9%89-%D8%AF%DB%95%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%95%D8%AA%DB%95-%D8%A6%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%DB%8C%DB%95%DA%A9%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%89-%D9%87%DB%95%D8%B1%DB%8E%D9%85%D9%89-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%DB%8E%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82.pdf.
Law No.10 of 2006, Law of the Ministry of Environment of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Available at: https://www.parliament.krd/media/2449/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C-%DA%98%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%95-10-%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DA%B5%DB%8C-2006-%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%88%DB%95%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%95%D8%AA%DB%8C-%DA%98%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF%DB%95%DB%8C-%D9%87%DB%95%D8%B1%DB%8E%D9%85%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%80-%D8%B9%DB%8E%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82.pdf.
Law No. 8 of 2008, Law of Environmental Protection and its Improvement in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Available at: https://www.parliament.krd/media/2365/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C-%DA%98%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-8-%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DA%B5%DB%8C-2008-%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86-%D9%88%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86%DB%8C-%DA%98%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF%D9%87-%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%87-%D8%B1%DB%8E%D9%85%DB%8C-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82.pdf.
Law No. 6 of 2010, Law of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Available at: https://www.parliament.krd/media/2333/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%89-%DA%98%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-6-%D9%89-%D8%B3%D8%A7%DA%B5%D9%89-2010-%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%88%D9%87-%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D9%83%D8%B4%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%83%D8%A7%DA%B5-%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%87-%D8%B1%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%87-%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%A6%D8%A7%D9%88-%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%87-%D8%B1%DB%8E%D9%85%D9%89-%D9%83%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%80-%D8%B9%DB%8E%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82.pdf.
Director of groundwater: some 15 thousand unlicensed wells have been drilled in Sulaymaniyah, 2019, Wsha, 2019, Available at: http://wishe.net/details.aspx?=hewal&jmare=77244&Jor=2.