The Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers on Thursday held a meeting to address ongoing water shortages.

Following a roundtable discussions with the relevant ministries and departments, the Council issued the following directions:

1- The Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism will lead a meeting next week with the relevant ministries, departments, and other concerned administrations to establish a strategy on how to tackle water shortages, which will be reviewed on a monthly basis.

2- Nearly 4 billion dinars will be allocated to the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism to be disbursed to provincial and administrative authorities to address water security issues for the months of August, September, and October.

3- The Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism will work with the Council of Ministers’ project oversight team to provide an update regarding the Ifraz 4 and Barzan water projects and potential funding avenues to accelerate the projects if needed.

4- The Ministry of Electricity will explore the viability of hydro-electric projects in the Kurdistan Region.

5- The Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism will work with relevant provincial and administrative authorities to deliver water by tanker to areas most in need.

6- The Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism will report within 15 days on water filtration capacities and other projects to increase water security.

7- The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources will explore opportunities with public-private partnerships for the construction of additional dams and reservoirs in the Kurdistan Region.

8-The Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and the Ministry of Electricity will outline the cost-benefits of hydro-electric dams in the Kurdistan Region.

9- The Department of Foreign Relations will work with relevant ministries and departments to hold talks with Turkey and Iran on water security in the region.

10- The Department of Media and Information, in collaboration with relevant ministries and departments, will launch an educational campaign on water and electricity conservation and raise awareness about water security in the region.

11- The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs will work with the Kurdistan Region Parliament to propose water security and conservation legislation.

KRG will be allocating 2.5 billion dinars in funds to combat droughts across the region and 1.5 billion dinars in emergency funds to address urgent water shortages in the Erbil province.

As the first phase of its water security strategy, the government will be distributing funds to each provincial water directorate to implement their own drought-combating measures:

1- 925 million dinars for the Erbil province
2- 1 billion dinars for the provinces of Sulaymaniyah and Halabja and the administrations of Garmian and Raparin
3- 575 million dinars for the Duhok province