Sharjah24 – AFP: Farmers in Iraqi Kurdistan seeking to irrigate crops face seeing their economic lifeline slip away as the waters of Lake Dukan recede and dams upstream in Iran stem the flow.
Bapir Kalkani, who is also a trade unionist, farms near the picturesque lake but has seen marked changes over the past three years as Iraq suffers prolonged drought.
"There was water where I'm standing now" in 2019, the 56-year-old said. "It used to go three kilometres (two miles) further, but the level has retreated."
Sesame and beans are being grown on the plain under a blazing sun, adjacent to the lake which is fed by a Tigris tributary, the Lower Zab river which has its source in Iran.
The large artificial lake was created in the 1950s following construction of the Dukan dam, to supply irrigation and drinking water for the region, as well as to generate electricity.
But for several years both the lake and the river have been shrinking -- as have all of the rivers in Iraq.
The country is classified as one of the five nations most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and desertification.
Its water reserves have fallen by 60 percent compared with last year, the government says.
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