Water Security Challenges in the Kurdistan Region

This study investigates two fundamental challenges facing the water security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. These challenges are identified as internal and external. Internal challenges are dealt with from two perspectives: one has to do with climate change that leads to decreasing the rainfall and increasing droughts both of which negatively affecting water revenues. The other one is human-related challenges that are associated with water utilisation and water management issues. Such challenges include the excessive use and waste of water as well as water pollution that results in the inability of water revenues (especially surface water such as rivers and lakes) to meet the needs of people in the region. The external challenges, on the other hand, are related to the current water policies pursued by the neighbouring countries of Turkey and Iran. These countries use the water resources located within their borders as a weapon against the Kurdistan Region. About 60% of the region’s water resources comes from Turkey and Iran. Consequently, the strict water policy implemented by these countries has exerted a considerable negative impact on the total amount of water needs in the Kurdistan Region. affected.