Turkey causes immeasurable suffering to al- Hasakah, Deir-ez Zor residents

The significant drop in the water level of the southern Al-Hasakah Dam lake constitutes a major humanitarian disaster for the residents of the southern areas of Hasaka canton, all the way to the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, where the dam’s water has receded significantly, leaving only 120 million m³ out of 605 million m³, according to the director of Water resources in the Agriculture Committee Shaddadi district.

The appearance of the tombs on the western bank of the lake, on the old lake road opposite the village of Karama, which had been flooded by the water of the dam lake, indicates the extent of its low level.

The significant decline in the water level of the southern dam lake is primarily due to the Turkish occupation state’s gradual blocking the water of the Khabur River, which feeds the lake, starting in the spring of 2013, in addition to drought, climate change and the decline in the level of precipitation in the region.

The length of the Khabur River is 312 km from its source, passing through the two sides of Serêkaniyê and Tal Tamr when it enters eastern Syria, until it meets the Jaqjaq River, and pours it into the Euphrates River, after it was collected in the southern dam near the town of Al-Aresha, south of Hasaka.

Using water as a weapon

In its war against the Syrians, the Turkish occupation state is using water as a weapon to reach its agendas in the country, as it has decided to reduce Syria’s share of the Euphrates water, as well as cutting off the water of the Khabur River that feeds the lake of the southern dam of Al-Hasakah, located near the Al-Aresha district 30 km south of Al-Hasakah. This threatens the lives of the inhabitants of the southern regions who depend on their water resources for their livelihood.

Hussein Al-Ali, a fisherman working in the southern Al-Hasakah Dam lake, and a farmer from the Al-Aresha district, says: "The water level has decreased very significantly from what it was in the past, and the receding water of the lake has caused the death of thousands of fish in it, and the fishing movement inside the lake has declined significantly, which will threaten the sources of The livelihood of hundreds of fishermen in the area on the one hand, and on the other hand it will lead to the destruction of fish wealth after thousands of fish died due to the decrease in the amount of water stored inside the lake.”

While the Director of Water Resources in the Agriculture Committee of Al-Shaddadi district, Abdul Rahman Sweileh, indicated that large areas of agricultural land were left out of agricultural investment as a result of the suspension of irrigation projects on the bank of the Khabur River, starting from Al-Aresha to the Markada district, in addition to a section of the northern Deir ez-Zor countryside.

He noted that the decline of water caused more than 200,000 dunums to leave this year from agricultural accounts, due to their inability to waste the remaining water in the lake in order to preserve the body of the dam from cracks that may occur if the lake water dries up or its level drops more than It is now.

The director of water resources in the Shaddadi Agriculture Committee, Abdul Rahman Sweileh, and the region’s fishermen and farmers, warned of an imminent disaster that may befall the region, as the decline poses a real threat to the agriculture and livestock sectors, which are the mainstay of the region’s economy and the livelihood of its residents.

Blocking of the water of the Khabour River has caused the spread of leishmania in separate areas on its banks after turning into swamps, and a center for the spread of the sand fly that causes leishmania, including in the northwestern countryside off Al- Hasakah canton.

Euphrates River from its course in Syrian territory, in violation of the agreement signed between Damascus, Ankara and Baghdad in 1987, which stipulates pumping 500 cubic meters of water per second to Syria and Iraq.

According to observers of the humanitarian situation and experts in water resources sciences, Syrian cities such as "Aleppo, Raqqa, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor, Albukamal, and Al-Hasakah" all the way to Iraqi cities, will inevitably face a humanitarian catastrophe, if the Turkish state continues to block water.

It is worth noting that the Turkish occupation state used water earlier last year, the water of the Allouk station in the occupied Serêkaniyê, as a weapon against the Syrians in the city of Al-Hasakah, depriving nearly one million citizens in Al-Hasakah canton of drinking water.

T/S

ANHA