Water Resources: Fines of up to 10 million dinars imposed on those who exceed river water allocations.
Water Resources: Fines of up to 10 million dinars imposed on those who exceed river water allocations.
2025-09-14
The Ministry of Water Resources announced the imposition of fines of ten million dinars on those who violate water quotas for rivers in Baghdad and the governorates, revealing that the number of violations monitored during 2025 reached ten thousand. Iraq is suffering from the worst drought in its history, as a result of five consecutive seasons of severe water scarcity due to low rainfall and snowfall, and a significant decrease in water quotas imported from neighboring countries, which has caused its water reserves to decrease to dangerous and alarming levels.
The Director of the General Authority for Irrigation and Drainage Projects at the Ministry, Engineer Ahmed Kazim Abdullah, stated that the number of violations observed by the competent authority’s staff in Baghdad and the governorates regarding river water quotas during the current year exceeded 10,000. These violations included the installation of water pumps in river basins, the creation of fish ponds, and the opening of outlets in rivers, all of which were illegal.
He added that lawsuits have been filed against violators, confirming that the fines imposed on them have been increased from one million to ten million dinars. He noted that, in the same context, committees have been formed in every district and sub-district to monitor violations, hold violators accountable, and secure pledges from them to protect Iraq’s water resources from illegal exploitation.
Abdullah also revealed that the Authority’s staff are facing difficulties in dealing with and protecting violators, whether they are outlaws or influential individuals, in the Salah al-Din governorates, particularly in al-Ishaqi, Wasit, and Maysan, particularly in the south, Qalaat Saleh, and al-Uzair. This is resulting in a shortage of water quotas reaching Basra Governorate.
He stated that the violations are being addressed by importing fish from abroad, and reducing the local fish trade, whose prices have reached exorbitant prices, in addition to converting rivers and streams from an open irrigation system to a closed one in Najaf Governorate, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), explaining that the Authority’s field teams continue to remove violations from rivers and streams and implement the rationing system so that water reaches the farthest point, within the plan approved by the National Center and the General Authority for Dams in the Ministry, and it continues until the beginning of November, to secure drinking water and irrigate orchards and vegetable growing areas.
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