Shafaq News- Al-Anbar
Unlicensed factories along theEuphrates River in Iraq’s Al-Anbar are threatening water quality andsurrounding ecosystems, prompting local authorities to move against violatingfacilities operating on the riverbanks.
Qais Naji, director of Al-Anbar’sEnvironment Directorate, told Shafaq News that all such factories along theEuphrates would face legal measures, adding that local authorities inAl-Habbaniyah had formed a joint committee involving the Environment Directorateand the district administration to monitor these activities under thesupervision of District Commissioner Ali Dawood.
Environmental teams, according toNaji, are conducting regular field inspections and submitting official requeststo the Environment Ministry to issue closure orders against violatingfacilities, particularly in the Al-Khalidiya area along the Euphrates. Factories that fail to comply with closure orders will be referred to thejudiciary under Iraq’s Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. 27 of2009.
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Mohammed Ibrahim, an environmentalexpert, separately warned that untreated industrial waste discharged into theriver could contaminate groundwater and water used for agriculture anddrinking. Pollutants including heavy metals, oils, and chemical waste couldaccumulate in the Euphrates, harming biodiversity, causing fish deaths, anddegrading surrounding ecosystems.
Unregulated industrial activity couldincrease thermal and chemical pollution in the river, negatively affectinghuman health through the use of contaminated water for irrigation and drinking,he added, while continued violations without effective oversight could “deepenenvironmental pressures” through soil erosion, lower agricultural productivity,and deteriorating water quality.
In 2025, a study by researchers fromthe University of Al-Anbar also found biological oxygen demand (BOD5) levels inthe Euphrates near Al-Khalidiya exceeded permissible limits, associating thedeterioration with sewage, industrial, and agricultural pollution sources.
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The warnings come as Iraq faces oneof its worst water crises in decades. A 2025 World Weather Attribution studydescribed the year as Iraq’s driest since 1933, with water levels in the Tigrisand Euphrates rivers dropping by up to 27%, while nearby Al-Habbaniyah Lake hassuffered sharp declines due to drought, reduced Euphrates inflows, and risingevaporation rates, according to NASA Earth Observatory.
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