ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Dozens of residents gathered Tuesday evening in the al-Rahmaniyah area of al-Sadiq District, northern Basra, to protest a worsening water pollution crisis that has left neighborhoods without clean water for three days.

Protesters told The New Region that a large, polluted patch of water has entered the area’s main water supply stream. Several treatment plants have shut down as a result, cutting off clean water to homes during a period of soaring temperatures.

“This is a serious problem,” said Sadiq Kazem, a local community leader. “We are facing an environmental disaster.”

Kazem said a thick, dark red mass with a foul, unfamiliar odor began flowing into the river more than two days ago. Since then, water stations have stopped operating, and residents have been left without access to safe water.

He described the event as part of a larger pattern of environmental decline in northern Basra. “We are already dealing with pollution from nearby oil fields and untreated sewage entering the Euphrates River,” he said.

Kazem added that low water levels in the streams have made the situation worse, increasing the risk of a broader environmental crisis in the area.

Residents are calling for immediate action from local and national authorities to restore clean water and address the causes of pollution.

In the country known as "the land of two rivers", water pollution has become a frequent and harmful issue, with rivers being contaminated by industrial waste and polluting the country's supply. Iraq already grapples with severe water shortages, worsened by the construction of upstream dams in Turkey, with the limited supply further exacerbating the harm caused by water pollution.

On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, a lawmaker informed The New Region that Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources will not issue a summer farming plan for 2025 due to critically low water reserves that barely meet the country's drinking water needs.