Shafaq News- Al-Anbar
A specialized environmental team identified 54 violationsand pollution hotspots affecting water quality along the Euphrates River, fromthe Iraq-Syria border to Haditha Lake, an environmental expert told Shafaq Newson Thursday.
Samim Salam Abu Furat said the specialists conducted afour-day field survey covering the areas of Al-Rummanah, Al-Qaim, Al-Obaidi,Ana, and Rawa. Researchers also tracked the river's main course using GPSdevices and compared findings with recent satellite imagery.
The survey identified five major outlets discharginguntreated sewage into the Euphrates, some located near drinking water treatmentplants. It also recorded four unlicensed sand quarries and processing sitesthat are eroding riverbanks and altering their natural structure, alongsidefive locations where poultry waste and animal carcasses were dumped into theriver. Investigators further documented eight fish ponds operating withoutpermits whose waste affects water quality, as well as 10 sites where constructiondebris had narrowed parts of the river channel and obstructed water flow. Inaddition, researchers recorded 22 agricultural and residential encroachmentsalong the riverbanks.
: Al-Anbar: An unfinished chapter in Iraq’s water story
Protecting the Euphrates, one of Iraq's most important watersources, is a "national priority," Abu Furat pointed out. He urgedrelevant government agencies to take immediate action, calling for regulatingfish farms in line with environmental standards and strengthening monitoringthrough field inspections and remote-sensing technologies.
: Drop by drop: Can Iraq avert a thirsty future?
