Six years without water: Hasaka’s ongoing struggle for survival

Hasaka is one of the major cities in NE Syria, home to about 1.5 million people in the city and surrounding countryside. Since its early 20th-century founding, the city has relied mainly on the Khabur and Jaghjagh Rivers, which meet in Hasaka before flowing toward the Euphrates.

As the population grew and river inflows decreased over the years, water shortages worsened. The city’s groundwater is mostly brackish or bitter and unsuitable for drinking. To address this, the Alouk Water Station was built in the countryside of Serekaniye.

Alouk Under Occupation: The Beginning of the Crisis

The Alouk Water Station was built in 2010 to collect and pump potable water to Hasaka and its countryside. Around 30 artesian wells were drilled near Alouk village, 10 km east of Serekaniye, with a pumping capacity of 175,000 cubic meters per day. The station includes a 25,000-cubic-meter reservoir and 12 main pumps, which transport water through a 67-kilometer pipeline to the Hamma station west of Hasakah, from where it is distributed to various communities.

The station is the sole source of drinking water for about 1.5 million residents, as well as for tens of thousands of internally displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees in the al-Hol, al-Arisha (al-Sadd), and Washokani camps.

The suffering began on October 9, 2019, when Turkish forces launched attacks on Serekaniye. The Alouk station was bombed, and power lines feeding it were hit, cutting off water to Hasaka and its countryside entirely. According to a UN Commission of Inquiry report (January 2020), workers who tried to repair the damage were abducted by Ahrar al-Sharqiya mercenaries allied with Turkey.

After occupying Serekaniye, Turkey repeatedly cut off water from the station—33 times before halting the supply completely in the summer of 2023. Since then, Hasaka has faced a suffocating water crisis.

Despite repeated calls, including a UNICEF statement on July 16, 2021, urging the protection of the station and an end to “ongoing disruptions,” Turkey has continued to use water as a weapon against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

Life Amid Thirst

For six years, residents have been forced to buy tanker water at prices reaching 7,000 Syrian pounds per barrel (about 35,000 pounds for a 5-barrel tank) amid severe inflation and economic collapse.

To cope, some families dug shallow wells despite knowing the water was too salty for drinking. Women often bear the burden of fetching and carrying water under harsh conditions.

Consequently, Hasaka has witnessed a spike in skin and intestinal diseases and childhood poisoning cases due to contaminated water use.

Efforts to Save Hasakah: Projects Stopped Midway

1. The Khabur Project – River That Dried Before It Could Save

Launched in early 2020, the project aimed to channel Khabur River water to Hasaka’s eastern dam as an alternative to the occupied Alouk station. The 3.134-billion-pound project was designed to be sustainable, using pumps and canals to divert floodwater.

However, drought, scarce rainfall, and Turkey’s digging of hundreds of wells and construction of 29 small dams in occupied Serekaniye cut off most of the river’s flow, rendering the project defunct.

2. The Hamma Project – Emergency Wells That Quickly Ran Dry

Also launched in 2020, this project aimed to drill 50 wells northwest of Hasakah to provide half the city’s minimum daily water need (48,000 m³).

Delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, border closures, and low rainfall led to the wells drying up and the project’s failure.

3. The Euphrates Project – Hope Unfulfilled

In 2021, the Autonomous Administration launched a $1.5 million project to pump water from the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor to Hasaka. It was expected to meet 15–20% of the city’s needs through a network of pumping stations extending from Deir ez-Zor’s al-Sour through al-Alwa and al-Shaddadi.

But technical failures, sabotage, and Turkey’s continued restriction of Euphrates flow prevented sustained operation. Only limited, insufficient quantities reached Hasakah.

4. The Amuda Project

After the previous projects failed, a new $40 million plan was launched to drill 20 wells in Sanjaq Saadoun village south of Amuda and pump water to Hasakah via a new network designed to supply the city once per week.

Although 35% of the work was completed, drought and groundwater depletion halted progress.

Abdulrahman Mohammed from the Water Authority of the Autonomous Administration confirmed the project’s suspension without elaborating on the reasons.

A Thirsty City Awaits Water Justice

Six years on, Hasaka and its countryside still face acute water shortages, with no effective alternative to Alouk Station. Turkey’s continued blockade deprives over a million people of a basic human right: access to water.

The same scene repeats itself year after year — children dragging water containers, women waiting under the sun for tankers, and a city thirsting for justice and relief.

a.k

ANHA