Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 09BAGHDAD1071, ERBIL: Water from a Rock: Drought and Dohuk

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09BAGHDAD1071.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BAGHDAD1071 2009-04-20 15:16 2011-08-24 16:30 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Baghdad
VZCZCXRO4273
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1071/01 1101516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201516Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2764
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAGR IZ TU IR EAID PGOV
SUBJECT: ERBIL: Water from a Rock: Drought and Dohuk 
 
This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team Message. 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  The Kurdistan Regional Government has officially 
declared 2009 to be another drought year.  In an effort to 
proactively mitigate the drought's effect, Dohuk Governor Tamar 
Ramadan recently convened a conference to formulate a provincial 
drought action plan.  But human and industrial demand continues to 
overburden the province's limited water resources.  Despite 
proactive planning and aggressive resource management, more 
investment is needed to increase residents' access to potable.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
Snapshot of Water in Dohuk Province 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
2. (U) Dohuk's nearly 1 million residents, including a sizeable 
portion of the grain farmers of northern Iraq, depend on a 
combination of wells and reservoirs located throughout the province. 
 Those sources are dependent upon rain-fed ground water, springs and 
the two major rivers that run along its western and eastern borders. 
 The western half of the province depends primarily on water from 
Chambarakat (Mosul) Dam in Ninewah Province and the smaller Dohuk 
Dam in Dohuk City.  (Note:  The KRG recently began the second phase 
of a project that will link the western half of the province 
directly to the Tigris River, alleviating pressure on Chambarakat.) 
The eastern half of the province relies on town/village wells, as 
well as unfiltered water piped from the Zab River and a collection 
of minor springs, but those water sources have no major reservoirs. 
The KRG has plans to build modern reservoirs in the eastern area, 
but to date, has been unable to secure the funding required (an 
estimated USD 90 million) and is not optimistic that it will be able 
to this year.  Due to the absence of reservoirs, most residents of 
the eastern Dohuk receive water for no more than three hours a day. 
 
Dohuk Governor Gets Serious About Water 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
4. (U) Despite the rain that has fallen across the Kurdistan Region 
(KR) for the past month, the Kurdistan Regional Government has 
officially declared 2009 to be another drought year.  In order to 
mitigate the drought's effect on the population, Dohuk Governor 
Tamar Ramadan recently convened a conference of all provincial 
government officials and all University of Dohuk faculties 
associated with water resources.  That conference resulted in a 
12-point action plan.  Recommendations included beginning the 
process of water purification, having the KRG dig artesian wells 
throughout the province, building small and big dams throughout the 
province, and working closely with academia to "develop the DG of 
Water Resources plans for drinking water for human and animal 
consumption."  The conference attendees recommended the creation of 
drought-relief action committees in all three provinces of the KR 
and a central committee in Erbil.  Finally, the governor requested 
KRG permission for an emergency drought relief budget of USD 
14,954,044, based on the needs of the province as determined by the 
conference attendees. 
 
5. (U) Governor Ramadan convened a similar conference last year, to 
which many provincial officials attribute the province's laudable 
preparedness for the drought of 2008.  The five Directors General of 
water resources say that population migration from the rural to the 
urban areas of Dohuk was greatly reduced because the province had a 
comprehensive plan to regularly truck water to the rural areas, and 
to dig artesian wells in strategic locations.  The rate of 
water-borne illnesses in Dohuk was significantly lower than years 
before because the DGs of Water, Health and Sanitation had a plan to 
Qbefore because the DGs of Water, Health and Sanitation had a plan to 
regularly test water sources throughout the province and bar access 
to those sources deemed contaminated.  (Note: The Dohuk DG of Health 
recorded six reported cases of cholera in 2008.) 
 
 
Hoping for Rain, Planning for Sun 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
6. (U) Despite having an aggressive drought management plan, the 
reality is the demand on Dohuk's limited resources has long 
outstripped what appears to be a dwindling supply.  According to the 
Dohuk DG of Agriculture, Dohuk DG of Water, and the Dohuk 
Development and Modification Center (DMC), average rainfall and 
snowfall in the province has steadily decreased over the past 
decade.  He says that, although the western half of the province has 
benefited from the flooding of the Tigris River, the level of water 
in Dohuk Dam is still too low to carry the province through the 
summer without emergency drought intervention.  Furthermore, the 
ground water on which the whole province depends, and the province's 
only backup for when drought sets in, is rapidly depleting.  "Do not 
expect these few drops of rain to replenish our reserves.  We will 
need another 3-4 years of above average rainfall to repair the 
damage caused by last year's drought," said DMC Director Engineer 
Mustafa Abdulkhaliq.  The artesian wells that the government drills 
in order to fill water trucks tap precious reserves of groundwater. 
Once the water table decreases to a certain level, the water's 
sulfur and nitrogen content become high enough to make the water 
dangerous for human consumption.  Due to this topographic feature of 
 
BAGHDAD 00001071  002 OF 002 
 
 
Dohuk, DG of Water Jalal Jameel predicts that he will be forced to 
close seven artesian wells due to the nitrogen level.  Overall, 
Dohuk's water resource officials predict that the province will lose 
an estimated 35-45% of its local water resources in 2009. 
 
7. (U) In addition to affecting quality of life and health for 
humans, water scarcity has an effect on water-dependent issues such 
electricity provision and agricultural development.  Dohuk has four 
pending hydroelectricity projects, each of which will depend on 
average rainfall in order to function.  (Note: Dohuk is not 
connected to the Erbil power line.  The province relies on 
electricity imported from Turkish company KARTET.  The amount of 
electricity provided by KARTET is insufficient for the demand that 
exists and is both unreliable and, at six times the cost of local 
electricity, very expensive. Provincial officials are hopeful that 
these hydroelectricity projects, once implemented, will alleviate 
demand in the remote parts of the province that currently receive 
little to no power.)  Furthermore, the KRG Ministry of Agriculture 
has 93 agricultural projects scheduled for implementation in Dohuk 
in 2009.  Without sufficient rainfall and ground water levels, those 
projects may not be implemented and a critical part of the KRG's 
plan for economic development, bolstering and upgrading the 
agricultural sector, will be delayed for another year.  While the 
Governor's drought action plan requested KRG funding to safeguard 
crops and livestock during 2009, those funds will most likely 
protect existing agricultural entities and rather than supply new 
ones.  In 2008, drought conditions were so austere that farmers in 
the KR were forced to sell their cattle or watch them die from 
dehydration.  A province that, for decades, had such an abundance of 
grass for grazing that it welcomed migrating shepherds from outside 
of the KR during the summer months, Dohuk was forced to turn those 
farmers away because the drought decimated any surplus that would 
have existed. 
 
BUTENIS