Iraq’s iconic Tigris River, once the lifeline of Mesopotamian civilization, is now drying up due to severe pollution, upstream dam construction, and climate change. Stretching nearly 2,000 kilometers, the river’s flow has drastically declined, endangering the livelihoods of about 18 million people who rely on it for irrigation, drinking water, and power generation. Environmental groups warn that without urgent intervention, the river could face near extinction.

Experts attribute the crisis to multiple factors: untreated sewage, industrial waste, and agricultural runoff have severely degraded water quality, while Turkey and Iran’s dams have reduced water flow into Iraq by over 30%. Local activists, such as Humat Dijlah’s founder Salman Khairallah, emphasize that the river’s decline is both an ecological and spiritual loss. In response, Baghdad and Ankara signed a recent “oil-for-water” deal to fund water management and pollution control projects.

If current trends persist, Iraq could face its worst drought in a century by 2035, with water demand far exceeding supply, posing grave risks to regional stability and heritage preservation.