“Turkey continuation cutting Euphrates waters heralds catastrophic results”

The Turkish occupation state continues to fight the peoples of the region by all available means to be extended today to the water war which will cause a catastrophe that may happen at any moment if it continues to cut off the water of the Euphrates River. There has been a lot of talks recently about the low level of the river, which led to negative results that are slowly beginning to unfold on several sides.

Our agency (Hawar) observed the remarkable decline of the Euphrates River on its outskirts, as well as at the specific measurements on the body of the Euphrates Dam, which became evident.

 The Co-chair of the Economy Committee in the Democratic Civil Administration for al-Tabqa region, Ahmed Suleiman, clarified the repercussions that will result from the intransigence of the Turkish state and its continued cutting of water.

 “Water level reduction will get projects out of service”

Suleiman indicated that the effects of the decline began to appear in the middle of last March in a simple way, but after less than a month, the Water Department of the Euphrates Dam establishment noticed a significant increase in decline, as the decrease recorded a rise of 167 cm at the vertical level of the dam, continuing in that to 267 cubic meters per second, and this amount is sufficient for all projects to deviate from service.

This is not the first time that Turkey cuts the water of the Euphrates from Syria and deprives the Syrians of it to collect political gains in the region. In May, 2014, it cut off the water, which led to a decrease in the lake level to about 20 feet, in a move described as preparing for genocide through drought.

Suleiman also pointed to the negative effects of the low level of the Euphrates Dam on the reality of electric power generation, as he said: “The production of electric energy reached the beginning of last March to 13,000,000 kilowatt-hour, while today it decreased to only 7,000,000 watts per hour, and perhaps it will not stop at this number if the Turkish state continues to cut off the water of the Euphrates.”

Where it is known that the Euphrates Dam needs a pumping quantity of 250 cubic meters per second in order to irrigate the agricultural projects of the Euphrates basin besides evaporation operations only, in addition to its need for the same amount to generate electric energy. According to international laws, the incoming must reach more than 500 cubic meters per second in Jarabulus area, that is, at the point where the Euphrates River enters Syrian territory.

In turn, the Co-chair of the Electricity Directorate in al-Tabqa, Lawrence al-Jassem, confirmed that the rationing hours were divided by 12 hours per day in coordination with the joint operations room of the Euphrates Dam which in turn determines the amount of rationing according to the water level, and the 12-hour daily is divided into 4 exits at an average of 4 hours per exit.

Thousands of families in al-Tabqa depend on the water of the Euphrates River to irrigate the agricultural crops scattered over the lands on both banks of the river, and the Euphrates River is one of the largest sources of supplying the Syrian people with drinking water in the governorates of al-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor reaching Aleppo in north Syria.

Officials in different sectors within the Euphrates Dam facility pointed to the great risks involved in the significant decrease in the level of water reserves in the Euphrates Lake, as estimates of workers in the Water Department indicate a noticeable decrease in the average water level during the past period when it reached about two meters.

“Over time, cracks will occur in the dam's body”

As for the Geology Department supervising the infrastructure of the Euphrates Dam facility, it expressed its fear about the continued decrease in the water level, which leads to a high level of moisture in the insulating layers of the dam and on both sides of the dam, which may led to severe damage due to its exposure to the sun's heat, which causes over time major cracks and spills lead to catastrophic results.

The Co-chair of the Economy Committee, Ahmed Suleiman, held the international community and the United Nations in particular fully responsible for what might result from such action because of the intransigence of the Turkish regime and its lack of commitment to the international covenants. The international community must take its responsibilities because the Turkish state uses all methods to fight the peoples of the region.

Legally, according to Article 3 of the United Nations Charter for Economic Rights and Obligations of States of 1974 which states that “when exploiting the natural resources that two or more countries share, each country must cooperate with others on the basis of an information and mutual consultation system in order to achieve an optimal use of these resources without causing harm to any legitimate interests of others,” and this applies to international rivers and lakes passing by and common to more than one country.

The strategic water reserve fixed behind the Euphrates Dam reaches a storage capacity of 14,167 cubic meters.

D.H

ANHA