Iraq: Water, Life, and the Fight Against Climate

For almost 5,000 years, Iraq’s Marshes indigenous people have fished and cultivated crops in the wetlands not too far away from where I stood. Floating reed islands are built where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet before flowing into the Gulf, where water buffalo are raised and reed houses are constructed.

For thousands of years, ancient Mesopotamia was a land of agriculture since the two main rivers surrounded the Fertile Crescent, where the first civilizations thrived on crops and livestock. Fast forward to this day, and climate change, water pollution, oil exploration, and the construction of upstream dams imperil the survival of this fragile ecosystem and its ancient Mesopotamian culture, which some claim traces back to the Sumerians. In contrast to the fertile and abundant lands, which once prospered with agriculture, today, most of the lands here are barren and parched. Fishermen, farmers, and boatbuilders, among others, are abandoning lives that depend on water and relocating to cities, desperately looking for better economic opportunities. 

In the past 30 years, life has been brilliant. We expanded our farm fields, planting and farming most of the seasonal vegetables, rice, wheat, and fruits. The current situation is miserable, and life is almost impossible. The only economic activity in the village is farming. Most of the families stopped farming, while others left their fields looking for water, said Adel Mohan, a local farmer.

To put the scope of the problem in perspective, Iraq is listed among the five countries most affected by climate change according to the UN. Desertification threatens 92% of Iraqi land, while temperature is rising seven times faster than anywhere else on earth. 

As I return away from the scorching sun, my eyes are drawn to the reverse osmosis unit (RO) built by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), recognizing the crisis in these parts of the country. This village and the Afak district have been identified as one of the most impacted areas due to water scarcity and climate challenges. The IRCS installed this RO unit together with the ICRC in 2023 under an operational cooperation agreement entitled “Improving Access to Safe Water in Selected Vulnerable Communities in Iraq’s Southern Governorates and Strengthening Emergency Preparedness of IRCS Water and Sanitation Department.”