Dhi Qar – The owners of boats (or what is known as Mashhouf) usually gather near the marina of the monument of the martyr in the center of the city of Jabayish (90 km east of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar governorate in southern Iraq) to receive tourists, or some families who come from other Iraqi governorates, especially in such as These are the times of the year, when the waters are abundant and the temperatures are mild, which allow entering the depths of the marshes and witnessing the life there.
But the matter has changed for the marsh dwellers, whose fears are increasing every day due to the drop in water levels and the decline in tourism, and the fear that the water will increase salinity and kill fish and buffaloes, as happened in the past years of drought; This prompted the owners of boats, who also work in fishing, to take care of their animals, follow up on water costs, and search for possible solutions for them. Read also The reed hostels in Iraq..a world heritage deep in the marshes The waters of the Iraqi Marshlands are a wealth threatened with depletion This morning – the shakhtoura is a means of transportation and a source of livelihood in the marshes
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Until this week, the water levels of the marshes have reached less than 130 centimeters, and they are still witnessing an accelerated decline to a frightening degree. All the reassuring statements of the Ministry of Water Resources are unreal and far from reality, as they are unable to find a solution, and the coming days will be difficult for the residents of the marshes. According to Raad Al-Asadi, head of the Al-Jbayish Eco-Tourism Organization and environmental activist.
Al-Asadi added – during his speech to Al-Jazeera Net – that the levels of the marshes during the past year were good, and before last year they reached more than 190 centimeters, and here we are watching the decline that is occurring, and we did not officially enter the summer; Ie peak time in July and August.
These levels at this early time, according to Al-Asadi, pose a threat to biodiversity and the population, in addition to the approaching season of planting watermelon and summer crops, which consume a lot of water, as well as the excesses of the owners of fish lakes, and the abuses of water quotas by other governorates with the danger of wastewater on Euphrates River, which causes high salinity.
Haider Al-Salihi, a resident of the marshes in the Al-Fuhud district (southeast of Nasiriyah), confirms that the water levels have begun to reflect negatively on the overall life in the marsh areas, which has caused great concern among the residents of the Al-Fuhud and Al-Jabayish areas, as it witnessed an increase in requests to leave and migrate towards the governorates. other.
The government did not care about the problems of the marshes, and this file, as Al-Salihi says to Al Jazeera Net, is included in the government auctions, and the residents of the marshes did not benefit from its entry into the World Heritage List, all there are just media statements, and there is movement and migration to the cities of Najaf, Karbala and Basra in search of water and source of livelihood.
Reassurances and fears
Despite the strong concerns raised by environmental activists, about the danger of drying out the marshes; However, the director of water resources in Dhi Qar, Ghazwan Abdel Amir, confirmed during his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the decrease had occurred in the past days because the water releases were for drinking water and some other uses.
Abdul Amir confirms that despite the decrease in the expenditures received by the governorate, the share of the marshes is not less than 70% of the incoming quantities, and the expenditures of the Euphrates River these days exceed the prescribed share in the annual plan for its operation by 35%, as the coming days will witness the return of the levels to what they were before the decline the last one.
The representative of the Agriculture, Water and Marshlands Committee, Abdul Amir al-Dabi, accuses the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs of not taking any appropriate action towards Turkish violations of Iraq’s water share, and the country has the right to demand the international community regarding the share that reaches those areas.
Al-Dabi adds, during his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, that his committee called on the government in official correspondence and on more than one occasion to act on water; But she did not care about this file and was preoccupied with the political scene, and the Marshlands Committee is following this issue with great caution.