Iraq’s Minister of Water Resources Hassan Al Jenaby said that the country is a downstream country in the Land of Two Rivers, saying that it established a large number of dams to control the water, including Mousl Dam to control the water of Tigris River in the northern area of Mousl.

He added, during a seminar before Taqadom Institute for Development Studies, that Mousl Dam is considered one of four major dams in the Middle East, saying that it is one of the development projects that has performed a major role to push forward the Iraqi economy. He added that the dam will be a source of electricity generation and will be tourist landmark.

He signaled that the neighboring states built a number of dams since 1980s without the Iraqi approval, blaming these projects for the country’s lack of water that affected the agricultural sector and turned the country into major food importer.

He clarified that the Mousl Dam stores 50 percent of Tigris River, paving the way for the Iraqi government to carry out its agricultural projects. He added that it will perform a major role to resolve the problems of irrigation and drought that threaten the water security in the country.

He underlined the governmental efforts to maintain the dam after the liberation of its area from the grip of ISIS extremist group during the military operations launched since October. He stressed that the ministry will hold a conference to discuss the importance of the dam and the efforts to maximize its use during the coming period.