チグリス・ユーフラテス川の水位低下　イラク南部

【ナシリヤ（イラク）ＡＦＰ＝時事】イラク当局は２６日、南部でチグリス川とユーフラテス川の水位が大幅に低下していると明らかにした。至急対策を講じるという。（写真は、水位が著しく低下したイラク南部ナシリヤを流れるユーフラテス川）
　ＡＦＰの写真記者は南部ジーカール州の州都ナシリヤで、ユーフラテス川の川底が露呈している様子を捉えている。
　チグリス・ユーフラテス川の源流は共にトルコにある。イラク当局は長年、トルコのダムが水をせき止めているため、イラクに流入する水量が劇的に減っていると非難している。
　昨年のイラクの公式統計によると、イラクを流れるチグリス川の水位は過去１００年の平均水位の３５％ほどにまで低下している。
　イラクはしばしばトルコにダムの放流を要請している。また、農業用水と家庭用水については割当制を導入している。
　さらにイラク北部のダムでも水がせき止められることが多く、南部住民の間で怒りが広がっている。
　水資源省の担当者は２６日、南部でのチグリス・ユーフラテス川の水位の低下は「一時的なもの」だとＡＦＰに話した。
　当局は北部モスル、ドカン、ダルバンディカンのダムからの放流を増やす予定で、２日以内に状況は改善される見込みだという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/02/28-13:45）

Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers have witnessed a sharp decrease in their levels in the south of the country, officials said Sunday, pledging to take urgent measures to ease water shortages.
In Nasiriyah, capital of the southern province of Dhi Qar, an AFP photographer saw the river bed of the mighty Euphrates dry in patches.
The water ministry blamed the situation in some southern provinces on the low quantity of water reaching Iraq from neighbouring Turkey.
This has triggered a sharp drop in the country's water reserves, it said in a statement.
The Tigris and the Euphrates both have their source in Turkey, and authorities in Iraq have long accused the Ankara government of withholding water in dams that choke the rivers, dramatically reducing flows into Iraq.
Iraqi authorities also accuse farmers of abusing water supplies and flouting restrictions to irrigate their lands.
Water scarcity hitting farming and food security are already among the main drivers of rural-to-urban migration in Iraq, the UN and several non-government groups said in June 2022.
According to official Iraqi statistics from last year, the level of the Tigris entering Iraq has dropped to just 35 percent of its average over the past century.
Water ministry spokesman Khaled Chamal said Sunday that Iraq was getting only 30 percent of the water it expected from the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Iraq regularly asks Turkey to release more water, and has imposed measures to ration water for agriculture and domestic use.
Water is also often held back in dams in Iraq's north, triggering anger among residents in the south.
Chamal told AFP the latest drop in water levels in both the Tigris and Euphrates in the country's south was temporary.
Authorities will increase levels by releasing water from Iraqi dams in the northern areas of Mosul, Dukan and Darbandikhan, he added.
There should be positive results within the next two days, he said.
After decades of conflict, oil-rich Iraq has been plagued by poverty, drought and desertification.
It is one of the five countries most exposed to impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations.
In December, the World Bank urged Iraqi authorities to modernise irrigation processes and farming methods, and review dam infrastructure.