ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s water imports from Turkey has increased in recent days, but the portion is still less that what has been reported per the recent agreement between Ankara and Baghdad, an Iraqi official told The New Region on Saturday.

Iraqi parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani on Tuesday announced that Turkey has agreed to release an additional 420 cubic meters of water per second to Iraq from the upstream portions of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

“We have noticed an improvement in the volume of [water] imports from Turkey over the past two days of approximately 50 percent, which is less than what was hoped for, according to the news circulating in the media,” Mohammed Khaled, Mosul Dam Project deputy director, told The New Region on Saturday.

Khaled noted that water releases from Turkey into Iraq so far remain “unchanged,” adding that “the volume of water storage in the dam is small compared to previous years,” without revealing the exact volume due to a lack of authorization to do so.

Around 90 percent of Iraq’s water sources originate from Turkey.

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 Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday announced that Baghdad has signed a strategic agreement with Ankara on water management, which includes “the transfer of Turkey’s successful water management model to Iraq, particularly in dam and water plant projects.”