A clean and sustainable vision for Basra
Water management and environment experts from Germany and Iraq examine the city of Basra, once called the ‘Venice of The Middle East’ in the fifth and final chapter of our research book ‘Water is Life. Perspectives on Water in the Land of Two Streams’. They analyse what the current situation is like, why water scarcity and quality continue to be such a big problem as well as what are the reasons behind it. It unravels alarming statistics such as the fact that the oil industry in Basra consumes 5 times more water than the drinking water supply.
Finally, it offers a set of concrete ideas on how to solve the issue: fighting corruption and population growth, improving education and environmental awareness, introducing the concept of waste and waste-recycling, developing a holistic approach for the utilization of solar energy and water recycling, and developing architecture and infrastructure with green areas, urban farming, and rainwater harvesting.
Iraq is a country in an arid climate where water scarcity is common. On the other hand, Mesopotamia is blessed by two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, which made southern Iraq with its marshes the cradle of modern civilization. However, an extreme growth in population in the last 50 years, the reduction of headwaters of Euphrates and Tigris as a result of dams in Turkey, Syria, and Iran, and mismanagement are all factors that placed Basra and the whole
country in a critical situation.
Download the chapter here. For the full book click here. The book was produced within the framework of the project “Clean Tigris- Dialogue Programme for Sustainable Peace in Mesopotamia”.
The project is supported by the ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) programme “zivik”, with funds from the German Federal Foreign Office.
Our project manager Alisha Molter will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the project.
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