Syria Today | Q&A: George Soumi, Minister of Irrigation

Syria Today spoke to the Minister of Irrigation about water management and food security in Syria.

By Abdulhamid Qabbani 
Photo Adel Samara

Will worsening Syrian-Turkish relations affect the general status of water and its availability in Syria?
Syria shares many watercourses with Turkey, the most important being the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The amount of water from the Tigris used on Syrian lands is very limited. Currently, a water pumping plant is being installed on the river in Ein Diwarto which will enable Syria to use part of its total share there, estimated at 1,250bn m3/year, which is regulated by an agreement signed by Syria, Turkey and Iraq.

The number of Turkish facilities for reserving water from the Tigris is relatively small, and not much of Turkey's landmass is irrigated by the river, which limits Turkey's need to control its water. Moreover, Turkey does not have a large agricultural area irrigated by the Tigris River.

Turkey has a number of dams on the Euphrates that enable it to control its water more than that of the Tigris. However, it is not to be expected that the Euphrates' incoming water would be affected. The reason for this is the fact that any reduction in the amount of water passed to Syria will also have a negative effect on Iraq as it is downstream of Syria and so will receive a reduced share of the river's water. Also, limited areas of Turkish agricultural lands are irrigated at the moment by water from the Euphrates, so there is a water surplus in the river basin. In addition, the Turks need to generate cheap electricity via dams constructed on the Euphrates, so they need to let water pass through dams, including the dam near the Syrian borders.

What are the conditions mentioned in the protocol regarding regulation of Syrian-Turkish water relations?
We must also refer to the fact that there is a protocol between Syria and Turkey, signed in 1987, according to which Turkey is committed to allowing a flow of over at least 500 m3 /second from the Euphrates. There is also an agreement between Syria and Iraq, signed in 1989, that regulates the share of the incoming water in Jarabloss at the Turkish border, where 58 percent of it is reserved for Iraq and 42 percent is Syria's share.

2011 measurements of these amounts of water indicate that Turkey has kept its commitment to the above-mentioned protocol. Also, Syria let flow in Abou Kamal at the Iraqi border the 58 percent from the discharge passed in Jarabloss. However, sometimes the amount of water passed to Iraq reaches more than that, i.e. 60-70 percent, sometimes even over 95 percent.

There are a number of joint Syrian-Turkish committees, such as the one for the restoration of Ras Al-En springs, the committee for the protection of water from pollution, and the Iraqi - Syrian - Turkish committee to unify the mechanism of measurement in the Tigris and Al-Khabour rivers.

Turkey mentioned that the water sector is not targeted by the sanctions…
Turkey plans to construct 22 dams in the framework of the GAP project, which is a big project for the reclamation of land situated in the southeast of Turkey. If the project was fully implemented, Turkey would consume a larger quantity of Euphrates and Tigris river water for irrigation. There is no doubt this will be negatively reflected in the flows of the two rivers, both in quantity and quality.

In this framework both Syria and Iraq seek to reach a final tri-lateral sharing agreement with Turkey for the two rivers' water, binding all the parties according to the former agreements and protocols.

Early last year, Syria and Turkey laid the cornerstone of a 'Friendship Dam' on the Orontes, which contains 1,000m3 of water and irrigates around 13,000 hectares of land.

What are the consequences of suspending this agreement on the agricultural sector in Syria?
The main purpose of this mutual Syrian-Turkish dam on the Orontes is to regulate the riverbed, prevent flooding of the lands at the lower end of the dam, and make use of dammed water to irrigate lands and generate power. However, irrigated lands around the river are limited and partly irrigated by pumping water from the river itself. So there would be no negative consequences on the agricultural sector in Syria if this agreement was suspended.

It's necessary to highlight the fact that the dam project is still being studied and, to date, the amount of water stored in the dam and the level of the storage have not been specified.
There is a red line that cannot be surpassed, i.e. any Turkish actions should not endanger preserving the historical monuments of the Dar Koush region and should not have an impact on the incomings of Ein Al-Zarka spring, which is considered the primary source of drinking water to secure for Idleb governorate.

What measures has the government taken to avoid a food crisis? And what support is the government providing to farmers to maintain agricultural production?
The government is taking all necessary measures. Some of these are securing production requirements for farmers, regardless of their indebtedness, granting loan exemptions from interest, purchasing strategic crops such as barley, wheat, sugar beets, and cotton, at attractive prices which are higher than international ones. Other measures are a fund to fight drought and another for agricultural support (for olives, apples, citrus, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, chick-peas, lentils, and grape crops, and poultry).

The annual irrigation fee for maintenance and operation is SYP 3500 (USD 64) per hectare. However, in some regions that do not need winter irrigation, as well as in the border region, the annual fees range from SYP 600 (USD 11) to SYP 1750 (USD 32) per year. Those fees are subsidised. The amount of SYP 3500 covers only 30-65 percent of the real cost of the maintenance and operation work.

What is the status quo of the drought level in the north-east of Syria?
An evaluation study on the drought situation was carried out. This study included the evaluation of mathematical statistics on rainfall, done for about 45 hydrological years, and for 450 weather stations. Also the line of precipitation levelling was drawn.

It was noticed that the fourth stability region, with precipitation of 200-250 mm/year and a probability of 50 percent, has extended to the second stability region, which partially indicates that the general orientation of the precipitation gives indicators of the expansion of the dry areas to the second and third stability region, especially in the north east region.

What is the amount of water available currently in Syria? Will it decrease?
The amount of stored water is slightly more than last year's reserve. Generally, water resources depend on rainfall levels (intensity and duration) that supply dams and rivers. Regarding discharges of springs, they are better than the previous hydrological year and to date they are within acceptable rates and meeting current demands.