New plan to increase water supplies in the capital

A new project to increase much-needed water supplies is underway in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, by diversifying the existing supply system and reducing wasteful water usage. "Baghdad has always suffered from water shortages during the summer season of around 50 percent," Baghdad Mayor Ala'a al-Temeemi told IRIN in the capital. "Our plan is to activate different water resources, like building more water treatment plants, maintenance works for the old systems and operating or expanding old water canals in the army district east of Baghdad. We will also stop people from wasting water on washing cars or watering plants," al-Temeemi explained. The project, which was implemented by the government at the start of May, is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Red Cross (IRC) and other NGOs in Japan and Germany. An anticipated 11.8 million Iraqis will benefit from USAID's US $600 million in water and sanitation projects countrywide. "Before we applied this plan, we had two million cubic [cu] metres a day and we are working to reach three million cubic metres," the operating manager at Baghdad's directorate for water, Abdul-Kareem Aba'as, told IRIN. He added that the World Bank and other countries such as the UK, Australia and Japan had allocated $82 million to finance water projects in Baghdad over the next two years. "There is a shortage in our neighbourhood every day. We do not have water for three to four hours a day. But it is better now than before when it would continue for two to three days," said May Hussein, who lives in the Bayaah district of Baghdad, speaking to IRIN. Water shortages in Iraq date back to the 1990s. Wars and UN sanctions, imposed after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, have had a devastating impact on essential supplies and social infrastructure, such as water, electricity, health and education services. In addition, many water treatment units stopped working through lack of maintenance or damage after the 2003 conflict. Other assistance has come from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which has provided 65 compact units for water treatment, dealing with a daily capacity of 50-100 cu metres of water. The agency has also assisted with the repair and reconstruction of the main water plant in Baghdad and in other governorates in the south of Iraq. Officials say the long-term solution would be to continue the expansion of the water plant east of the Tigris River, a project halted in 2003 because of the conflict. However there are now plans to restart it. "This plant was designed to insure the international standards of water for each person of 500 litres a day. The capacity of this plant is one billion cu metres a day and we hope it to raise to two billion cubic metres a day," a technical adviser in the water directorate, Sabah Rasheed, told IRIN.