Syria has been facing a decade-long drought. Wells were drying up. This led to a decrease in groundwater levels in eastern Syria of up to 60%, according to reports. The drought was pushing millions to the “brink.” Iraq and Iran were also drying up. Water levels in the Mosul dam had declined, and the giant Lake Tharthar was drying out. The massive Lake Urmia in Iran had already dried out.
Now things have changed. The dams are full, from Turkey to Syria and Iraq. The lakes are filling up, and the big problem is flooding, not lack of water. Bridges over the Euphrates have been pushed out of service in Syria due to the flooding.
The Syrian Ministry of Energy announced that “the efforts made by the Syrian side in conjunction with the Turkish side resulted in reducing the quantities of water coming into Syrian territory via the Euphrates River, addressing the high levels of the river’s water in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces,” Syrian state media said over the weekend.
The ministry said in a statement issued on Friday that the “technical staff” at the Euphrates Dam General Corporation had “begun taking the necessary operational measures to contribute to gradually reducing water levels along the course of the Euphrates, as the amount of water flow rates through the Euphrates Dam has been reduced by 100 cubic meters per second through the partial closure of spillway gate Number Three.”
Furthermore, SANA added, “the Ministry stated that the gradual reduction of water passing will continue in the coming days, in parallel with the decline in inflows coming from the Turkish side, which will contribute to a gradual decline in water levels and the return of the situation to normal.”
SANA noted that “several areas along the banks of the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates have been witnessing a noticeable rise in the river’s water level for days, causing damage to 2,400 families in Deir Ezzor, while emergency teams, civil defense teams, and local authorities are raising the state of readiness, taking preventive measures, and carrying out evacuation operations, when necessary, with the aim of protecting residents and property and reducing potential losses.”
Now Syria is saying that water levels have stabilized. Nevertheless, the flooding and the change in water flows show that the region is no longer on a one-way street to drought, and that such trends can be reversed. Iraq and Syria will now be affected in positive ways, as will Iran, where many areas have also been suffering from drought.
