ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources will not issue a summer farming plan for 2025 due to critically low water reserves that barely meet drinking water needs, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

Speaking to The New Region, Iraqi parliament member Hassan Wariush al-Asadi said Iraq’s current water storage has dropped to about 9 billion cubic meters, down sharply from 26 billion cubic meters at the same time last year.

“This situation has forced the ministry to cancel the summer agricultural plan entirely to save water for drinking and other essential needs,” Asadi said.

He warned that Iraq loses more than 2 billion cubic meters of water each year due to evaporation, while the country needs over 4.5 billion cubic meters just for drinking. If current levels continue, Iraq could run out of usable water in the coming months.

Asadi also said the government is currently supplementing the Euphrates River with stagnant and salty water from Lake Tharthar, which is worsening water quality.

“Negotiations with Turkey must address not just the amount of water released, but also its quality,” he said, criticizing the poor condition of water flowing across the border.

Asadi warned that the worsening drought threatens both human and agricultural security. He called on the government to take urgent action in regional water negotiations and ensure fair water distribution inside Iraq.

He said southern provinces like Basra, Maysan, and Dhi Qar, located at the tail end of the rivers, are expected to suffer the most from the shortage.

Water scarcity has been a long-standing and critical issue for Iraq, exacerbated by upstream dams constructed by Turkey along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These dams have significantly reduced water flow into Iraq, intensifying the country’s existing water shortages.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, a former water resources minister, has repeatedly highlighted combating water scarcity as one of the main priorities on his agenda as president of Iraq.