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BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Euphrates river is running at historically low levels as the drought-stricken country faces its worst water scarcity in living memory.
Its 46 million people face rising temperatures, chronic water shortages and year-on-year droughts, in a country intensely impacted by climate change.
The impact has been felt most acutely in the south, where reduced flow is fueling water pollution and the rapid spread of algae.
The once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, which have irrigated the country for millennia, originate in Turkiye, and authorities in Iraq have repeatedly blamed upstream Turkish dams for significantly reducing river flows.
“In recent weeks, the Euphrates has seen its lowest water levels in decades,” particularly in the south, said Hasan Al-Khateeb, an expert from the University of Kufa.
Iraq currently receives less than 35 percent of its allocated share of the Tigris and Euphrates, according to authorities.
To maintain the flow of the Euphrates, Iraq is releasing more water from its dwindling reservoirs than it receives, a measure that may not be sustainable.
Khaled Shamal, spokesman of the water resources ministry, said that water reserves in artificial lakes “are at their lowest in the history of the Iraqi state.”
Reserves have fallen from 10 billion cubic meters in late May to less than eight billion, which is less than eight percent of their capacity.
Reduced water flow has resulted in poor water quality and poses a threat to the Euphrates ecosystem.
Khateeb said that releasing water from aging reserves to feed the river has led to the spread of algae, which depletes oxygen and endangers aquatic life.
The environment ministry warned Sunday of increased bacterial pollution and large areas of algae in Karbala province.
Authorities have also warned of “very poor” water quality in the neighboring province of Najaf.
In Lake Najaf, an AFP photographer said the once-lush lake has been largely reduced to stagnant pools scattered across the basin.
In Nasiriyah, the capital of Dhi Qar province, an AFP photographer saw water hyacinth blooming in the Euphrates.
Water hyacinths, present in Iraq since the 1990s, have become more prevalent due to the low water flow, which also worsen their impact, according to Khateeb.
This invasive plant can absorb up to five liters of water per plant per day and obstructs sunlight and oxygen, which are vital for aquatic life.

VIENNA: Iran’s new cooperation framework with the UN nuclear watchdog includes “all facilities and installations in Iran,” agency head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.
Iran agreed a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday, after it suspended cooperation following the war with Israel in June.
The 12-day war saw Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, which the IAEA has not been able to access since.
Grossi said the agreed document “provides for a clear understanding of the procedures for inspections.”
It “includes all facilities and installations in Iran, and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present at those,” Grossi told the Vienna-based agency’s Board of Governors meeting.
Tehran’s suspension of cooperation saw the agency’s inspectors leave Iran, before a team briefly returned last month to oversee the replacement of fuel at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Access to nuclear sites now requires the approval of the Supreme National Security Council, and the most recent inspection was not granted access to other key sites, including Fordo and Natanz, which were hit in the June strikes.
“Iran and the agency will now resume cooperation in a respectful and comprehensive way,” Grossi said, adding the “practical steps... need to be implemented now.”
“There may be difficulties and issues to be resolved for sure, but we now know what we have to do,” he added.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Iran would end cooperation with the agency “in the event of any hostile action against Iran.”
“I emphasize that in the event of any hostile action against Iran, including the reinstatement of lifted UN Security Council resolutions, Iran will consider these practical steps ended,” he said.
In August, Britain, France and Germany initiated steps to reimpose UN sanctions after weeks of warnings, citing Iran’s continued non-compliance with its commitments under a 2015 nuclear agreement.
Iran has condemned the move as “illegal” and warned that it could lead to the exclusion of the European powers from any future negotiations.
While Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, Western countries accuse the government of seeking an atomic weapon — a claim Tehran has systematically denied.