Euphrates runs high at Hit while the south waits for water

The Euphrates at Hit, in Anbar, reached a discharge of about 1,000 cubic metres a second after releases from Haditha Dam, local water resources officials told 964media on 14 October. Muayyad Hussein, head of the Water Resources Department in Hit, said the situation was under control; river police boats and Civil Defense teams were deployed, embankments were reinforced and farmers were asked to move pumps and livestock. A visitor from Hilla said the water had not yet reached the drought-hit south. On 19 October the Water Resources Ministry's spokesman, Khalid Shamal, told the Iraqi News Agency that the southern marshes had improved after five years of drought, while some areas stayed dry because of reduced inflows and climate change. The ministry put reserves at more than 31 billion cubic metres on 15 September.