Drying Euphrates threatens disaster in Syria

Problems

• ‘Desert’: Drying Euphrates threatens disaster in Syria

  Syria's longest river, the Euphrates, is rapidly drying up, increasing the risk of turbines at major dams shutting down due to falling water levels, according to reports. As a result, the country may be left without electricity. 
  Syria's longest river has receded deep into dried-up trees, leaving families of local farmers without drinking water. Various aid groups and water engineers are already warning of an impending humanitarian disaster in northeastern Syria.

• Electricity Problems

  The Euphrates River is nearly 2,800 kilometers long. It flows through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. In Syria, it irrigates areas of land and passes through the dams of three hydroelectric power plants that provide millions of people with electricity and drinking water.
  However, the amount of water in the river has declined in recent years, increasing the risk of turbines at the dams shutting down. Experts warn that there is a critical drop in water levels not seen since the dams were completed in 1999.
  Falling water levels at hydroelectric dams have already resulted in power outages affecting up to five million Syrians. This is happening amid a pandemic and economic crisis.

• The critical water level in the river

  The water level has already dropped by five meters - and is now only a few tens of centimeters above the so-called dead level. According to experts, power production in northeastern Syria has already fallen by 70 percent compared to last year. At the same time, two out of every three water plants along the river are already pumping less water or have stopped working altogether.

• Water inflow from Turkey

  Nearly 90 percent of the Euphrates flow comes from Turkey, and Syria accuses Ankara of trapping more water in its dams than necessary. Damascus has urged Turkey to increase the flow immediately. The supply of fresh water from a plant on another river has already been interrupted at least 24 times - and some 460,000 people have been affected.

• Climate Change

  A U.N. report on climate change released this month reveals that human influence has almost certainly led to more frequent simultaneous "waves" of heat and drought around the world. The 2019 Global Crisis Risk Index also shows that periods of drought in the Mediterranean will become even longer and more severe, with Syria most at risk.

• Irrational use of water

  Irrational use of water also contributes to the shoaling of the great river: a lot of water goes into the ground or evaporates from the irrigation canals before it reaches the fields. In many places, the land is so saline that locals extract salt for sale.
  The lack of water has already had alarming consequences for the country's agriculture. Fields, where rice, wheat, barley, and dates were grown not so long ago, have become a desert. For example, wheat and barley crops in the north of the country have been reduced by 95% compared to what they used to be, and many date palm and citrus orchards in the east have dried up. The shallowing of the river has also led to a significant reduction in fish catches. U.S. experts predict this year's grain harvest will be no more than 50% of that of two years ago.
  Many farms are going bankrupt, and their former owners and their families are moving to the cities, increasing the already tense situation there. If nothing changes, agriculture may die, and the cities will wither.