Deir Ezzor-Sana
The Minister of Water Resources, Dr. Tamam Raad, was briefed today on the reality of the water system in Deir Ezzor Governorate and the measures taken to confront the low level of the Euphrates River due to the robbery of the Turkish regime on large quantities of Syria’s share of the river’s water.
The tour included projects in the third and fifth sectors of agricultural irrigation and drinking water stations in each of Makkan, Mohsen and Ayyash.
Minister Raad stated in a statement to reporters that the decrease in the drainage of the Euphrates River to less than 50 percent of the incoming from the point of entry of the river into the Syrian territories was reflected in the decrease in the drainage in the riverbed at different levels and locations of the drinking and irrigation water stations.
He also pointed out that "the situation is reassuring" in terms of securing drinking water and at the level of agricultural irrigation pumps, as all measures have been taken by the concerned authorities and that mechanisms have been brought in from Aleppo and Homs to dredge the canals and sewers in the third sector to secure the return of water flow.
Minister Raad emphasized that the reason for the decline is the water cutoff from the Turkish side, which we demand to release water according to the fair share determined for both Syria and Iraq. We also call on the international community and international organizations to intervene in this matter to restore the flow of the Euphrates River to what it was, pointing out that the situation continues as it is. It threatens water security in Raqqa, Deir Ezzor and Hasaka.
In turn, the Director of the General Organization for Land Reclamation, Eng. Luay Barakat, indicated that the corporation’s cadres have modified the irrigation systems by rotation and carried out isolation of the entrances to the channels in conjunction with the operation to ensure the arrival of the final irrigation of the wheat season, explaining that the wheat season in Deir Ezzor for this year has been spared any negative effects “with great difficulty”. The fact that the water level has fallen below the minimum for operating pumping stations. Coordination is also being made with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and the Peasants ’Union regarding the coming seasons, especially cotton and the intensification season.
The director of the General Organization for Drinking Water and Sanitation in Deir Al-Zour, Engineer Rabie Al-Ali, explained that the corporation has taken all necessary measures to provide drinking water to citizens through all 67 service stations, and the situation with regard to drinking water is reassuring.
The governor of Deir Ezzor, Fadel Najjar, and the Secretary of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Raed Al-Ghadhban, participated in the tour.
