The Politics of Iraq’s Waterscape: 1920-2024

Authors

  • Meg John Blue Current Consultancy

Downloads

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2026.1.04

Published

2026-02-21

Issue

Water & Heritage for Sustainable Development

Section

challenges, concepts and new approaches

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Meg John

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The Politics of Iraq’s Waterscape: 1920-2024. (2026). Blue Papers, 50–59. https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2026.1.04

Keywords:

inclusive society, water, governance, Dukan Dam, sustainable development

Abstract

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), historically a landscape with abundant water resources, has undergone significant geopolitical changes over the last century. Today, the country must find solutions for extreme water shortages. Dukan Dam serves as an example of how hegemonic and hierarchical effects from recent history have influenced water governance. While population growth and climate change along with unilateral water resource activities undertaken by neighboring states are exacerbating water shortages for Iraq and the KRI, it is important to analyze the internal waterscape and how it is managed. In this article, I focus on the period from 1920 to 2024 in Iraq to shed light on problems of governance strains pertaining to water. To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, Iraq must reckon with its past to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Author Biography

  • Meg John, Blue Current Consultancy

    Meg John graduated from IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in 2023. She has since opened her own consultancy, Blue Current, to continue her work on water. Her work includes but is not limited to research, policy briefs and editorial work. She is always open to design innovative projects on water and development-related themes. 

References

Adamo, Nasrat, and Nadhir Al-Ansari. 2020. “The Sumerians and the Akkadians: The Forerunners of the First Civilization 2900-2003 BC.” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10 (3): 17–39.

Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine. 2004. “What Happened to the Iraqi Marsh Arabs and their Land?” DIIS Working Paper 2004/26. Danish Institute for International Studies. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27457894_What_Happened_to_the_Iraqi_Marsh_Arabs_and_their_Land.

Baarda, Tijmen C. 2023. “Missionary Involvement with the Simele Massacre in 1933: The End of American Sympathy for the Assyrians.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (August): 1–19. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13530194.2023.2233218.

Domalain Bertille, 2022, Iraq trapped between Turkey and Iran, two hydro-hegemons, https://eismena.com/en/article/iraq-trapped-between-turkey-and-iran-two-hydro-hegemons-2022-08-01.

IEA. 2025. National Climate Resilience Assessment for Iraq, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/national-climate-resilience-assessment-for-iraq.

Rabar, Ruwayda Mustafah. 2011. “What Is the Kurdish Question?” openDemocracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-is-kurdish-question/.

Radpey, Loqman. 2023. “Towards a United Kurdistan? Prospects for Kurdish Self-Determination.” European Journal of International Law (July 24). Accessed October 25, 2024. https://www.ejiltalk.org/towards-a-united-kurdistan-prospects-for-kurdish-self-determination/.

Rodgers, Winthrop. 2023. “Iraq, Kurdistan, and the Fight to Save the Tigris and Euphrates.” Foreign Policy (July 25). https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/25/iraq-kurdistan-climate-change-rivers-tigris-euphrates/.

Rush, Alan de L., and Jane Priestland. 2001. Records of Iraq, 1914-1966. Archive Editions. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/48154155.html.

Statista. 2019. Population of Iraq from 1800 to 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1066952/population-iraq-historical/

Thesiger, Wilfred. 1964. The Marsh Arabs. Penguin Books.