The drying up of the Lower Zab River and future water disputes between Iran, Kurdistan Region and Iraq

Iran has dried up the Lower Zab River, the latest of Iran’s and Iraq’s transboundary (shared) rivers to be taken out of Iraq’s use. Water projects on the shared rivers will deny downstream Iraq its historic share of the waters. There is no agreement between Iran and Iraq on the management of their shared rivers and Iran ignores the principles for managing international watercourses provided in the applicable water conventions. This paper looks at the Lower Zab as the latest dried up river and its impact on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, it reviews the present policy of the Iraqi and the Kurdistan regional governments regarding the rivers shared with Iran, and finally it suggests what can be done in Kurdistan to secure water and how to manage it with Iraq.