Levels of Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates plunge in south

Iraq's Tigris and Euphrates rivers have witnessed a sharp decrease in their levels in the south of the country, officials said, pledging to take urgent measures to ease water shortages.

The water ministry blamed the situation in some southern provinces on "the low quantity of water reaching Iraq from neighbouring Turkey".

"This has triggered a sharp drop in the country's water reserves," it said in a statement.

The Tigris and the Euphrates both have their source in Turkey, and authorities in Iraq have long accused the Ankara government of withholding water in dams that choke the rivers, dramatically reducing flows into Iraq.

Iraqi authorities also accuse farmers of abusing water supplies and flouting restrictions to irrigate their lands.

Water scarcity hitting farming and food security are already among the "main drivers of rural-to-urban migration" in Iraq, the UN and several non-government groups said in June 2022.

According to official Iraqi statistics from last year, the level of the Tigris entering Iraq has dropped to just 35 percent of its average over the past century.

Iraq regularly asks Turkey to release more water, and has imposed measures to ration water for agriculture and domestic use.

Chamal said the latest drop in water levels in both the Tigris and Euphrates in the country's south was "temporary".

Authorities will increase levels by releasing water from Iraqi dams in the northern areas of Mosul, Dukan and Darbandikhan.