The Iraqi and Kurdish governments have agreed to build four dams in the Kurdistan Region, set to enter into construction by the end of 2024.

A budget of 4 trillion dinars (US$3 billion) has been allocated for the project.

The dams will be located in Akre, Erbil, Koya, and Qaladze. 

The Iraqi ministry of water resources had had notes on the designs of the dams, however after sending a delegation to the Kurdistan Region and cooperating with the Region’s Ministry of agriculture and water resources, all sides have confirmed the plan for the dams.

“All paperwork has been sent to Baghdad,” Rahman Khani, head of the Kurdistan Region’s General Directorate of Dams, told The New Region. “One of the requests was to expand the area of the dams, and that has been approved too.”

The dams are expected to enter construction phase by the end of 2024, and upon conclusion, they will be able to store around five billion cubic meters of water, which will positively impact agriculture and tourism in the region.

The second round of the Iraq-Turkey joint committee on water meetings took place in Baghdad earlier this month. During the meeting, the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources announced plans for water harvesting dam projects in the country.

In mid-April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq for the first time in years, focusing primarily on water, oil, and regional security issues. 

The visit, which included meetings with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Sudani, aimed to address several contentious topics, especially the management of shared water resources.

Water scarcity is a critical issue for Iraq, exacerbated by upstream dams constructed by Turkey on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 

These dams have significantly reduced water flow into Iraq, intensifying the country’s existing water shortages. 

Iraq is among the top five countries most impacted by climate change. The country is committed to the 2015 Paris agreement to combat climate change and intensify efforts towards a sustainable low-carbon future, however intense heatwaves across the country during summer months have led to significant shortage in water resources.