Publication details
Author
Water Security and Climate Change in Iraq: Challenges and Strategic Options
Year published
2026
Water Security and Climate Change in Iraq: Challenges and Strategic Options
Water Security and Climate Change in Iraq: Challenges and Strategic Options
2026
Tags
Iraq is grappling with an escalating water crisis, an "existential threat" that transcends traditional politics and directly undermines social and economic stability. Water security has become a matter of survival, with the United Nations warning that water scarcity threatens public health, food security, and energy production, ultimately jeopardizing the country's future development.
A severe drop in rainfall in recent years has driven national water reserves to their lowest levels in 80 years, standing at approximately 4 billion cubic meters. This is compounded by the declining flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have plummeted to roughly a quarter of their historical averages. Consequently, Iraq has endured successive years of drought, forcing the government to drastically limit permitted agricultural lands, with planting bans affecting over 4 million hectares in the autumn of 2025.
Related publications