Rojava Water Crisis - Report from the International Water Forum in Hasakah, North and East Syria

[Marko Ulvila]

Dear friends,

in September I attended international water forum in Rojava and have contributed to a report from it with Water for Rojava team.

The report can now be downloaded from here: https://mesopotamia.coop/news/report-from-the-international-water-forum-in-hasakah/

Below you can find the forum recommendations by the organizing committee and suggestions by the Water for Rojava team as extracted from the report.

The water and food situation in North and East Syria is very grim, and solidarity actions are more than welcome. If you are interested to know and/or engage more, I am more than happy to provide more information and contacts. The administration and civil society together with international humanitarian assistance are working hard to solve the crisis, but clearly greater support is needed.

With best regards,

Marko

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3. The Forum Findings and Recommendations

The forum concluded with twenty findings and recommendations articulated by the organizing committee at the closing session. They constitute the following:
1. Denounce the policies of the Turkish state in diverting water into a political weapon against the civilian population in North and East Syria, the whole of the Syrian state and Iraq.
2. Submit a general and comprehensive report, on behalf of the Forum and all its participants, on all violations of the Turkish state's laws and charters governing international waters to the bodies and organizations of the United Nations, the European Union, and international human rights and human rights organizations.
3. Call on the international community to pressure the Turkish state to reverse its policy and breach the laws governing common international waters.
4. File a lawsuit against Turkey for violating public international law, international norms and bilateral and tripartite agreements to which it was previously committed with regard to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and its use of water as a weapon of war, in violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
5. Share the results of this forum with the concerned civil society organizations and civil society in Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
6. Call on the international community to immediately intervene and assume its humanitarian duty in the region, with regard to the effects of water cuts and scarcity and their impact on communities and refugee camps. Regarding refugees and their camps.
7. Document all lectures and research that were discussed in the forum, and formulate them to prepare a water map for optimal investment.
8. Call on the Autonomous Administration to solve water problems through dialogue and cooperation with the concerned authorities, such as Iraq, Syria, and international organizations and forces, as it is a humanitarian issue.
9. Contribute to projects that support water sources, secure sustainable sources for them, build small and medium dams on small rivers, build water desalination centers, and bring river water to areas that suffer from water deficits.
10. Cooperate with humanitarian and human rights organizations in obtaining material and moral support to confront the repercussions and dangers of the water crisis in the region.
11. Call on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to draw up long-term strategies and policies based on, and benefit from research and studies issued by research centers to avoid the effects of the water crisis in the region, and to confront the negative repercussions and environmental disasters of water scarcity.
12. Develop serious and binding programs for rationalization and raising awareness in the various uses of water jointly by the Autonomous Administration and research centers.
13. Call on the Autonomous Administration to establish study centers specialized in water security.
14. Construction of sewage treatment plants.
15. Use alternative energy methods (wind and solar).
16. The possibility of benefiting from the Tigris River and drawing its waters to areas that suffer from a water deficit.
17. Focus on the need to maintain the cleanliness of running water and its follow-up by the local administration bodies in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and to develop programs and policies that rationalize and deter individuals, groups, companies and institutions that do not adhere to hygiene standards in and near river basins, and for groundwater as well.
18. Work to establish a comprehensive and in-depth study of human and economic resources and water resources in the region, and employ them for the requirements of development in its various directions, especially those related to water, its sources and methods of management. And submit a general and comprehensive report from this forum on the possible solutions and proposals put forward by the lecturers to preserve the existing water sources, secure new sources for them, and submit them to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to work on following up and studying them, implementing what is possible from them, and following them up by the Follow-up Committee.
19. Form a follow-up committee emanating from the Forum to follow up on the implementation of recommendations and proposals.
20. Call on the Autonomous Administration to form a diplomatic committee specialized in water affairs.

Source: https://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/international-water-forum-concludes-with-a-set-of-recommendations-h26949.html


4. Suggestions for follow-up

Based on the Water Forum recommendations, proposals below by the Water for Rojava team could be considered for follow-up and further actions.

- Submit a report on violations of the Turkish state ... to United Nations, the European Union, and international human rights and human rights organizations
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo <srwa...@ohchr.org> would be one good body where the violations could be reported:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/SRWaterIndex.aspx
instruction for a submission: https://spsubmission.ohchr.org/

- Call on the international community to pressure the Turkish state to reverse its policy and breach the laws governing common international waters
Attached is a template letter for a simple advocacy message. The template text touches also on the recommendation 6 calling for additional humanitarian assistance. It can be signed by an international coalition of organizations on the water crisis in NES and widely circulated.
Also international sign-on platforms such as Awaz, Some of Us and WeMove could be mobilized for international citizens' advocacy.

- Using alternative energy methods (wind and solar)
Recent paper by A Al Jamil and G I Sidorenko demonstrates that wider use of renewable energy sources (primarily solar and wind) can solve energy problems in Syria. The growing role of renewable energy in Syria should lead to greater stability and efficiency of energy supply. Such changes will have a positive impact on the environment and help economic development of the region. Syria is a promising region for the development of solar and wind energy.
Source: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1614/1/012023/pdf
Similarly, Vladimír Krepl et al emphasize the importance of the adoption of renewable energy solutions in the reconstruction of Syrian electricity sector, since these can help promote ecologically sustainable production (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the environment, increasing energy efficiency, creating jobs, etc.) and securing the electric supply of Syria while enhancing its stability.
Source: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/23/6326/pdf

- Propose alternatives to dam construction
Construction of additional dams in NES was proposed on a number of occasions as a solution to the water crisis. Such large infrastructure would only further degrade the environment. Large quantities of water would be lost due to evaporation in dam reservoirs while they would cause further water scarcity downstream in Iraq.
Instead, alternatives should be proposed to store water such as ponds, rainwater harvesting and traditional water harvesting methods. Research, revival and evolving of traditional, low-tech water harvesting methods like underground aqueducts/ qanats, cisterns and rainwater infiltration basins make use of natural springs and foster infiltration of rainwater during the rainy season in winter and refill the natural aquifers. These methods are ideal to be combined with collective democratic management. Research could e.g. be done in collaboration with local Jineolojî researchers. Successes in Indian villages including water parliament might serve as an inspiration.
As for energy, solar and wind are feasible alternatives to hydropower, which is not a sustainable solution for climate adaptation. Small hydroelectric power plants (without dams and artificial lakes) on smaller rivers could also be worth evaluating. They could also serve remote regions without connection to the central grid. But an environmental assessment on potential negative impacts and remediation measures should be conducted.

- Expand the participation to include, beyond the Self-Administration and academics, also local civil society, CSOs and local NGOs.
The International Water Forum contained a good participation of local officials and policymakers, academics and INGOs. Local NGOs, CSOs and activists were not visibly present. To build a strong coalition representing local communities, it is vital to include civil society groups from NES.
Build relationships and partnerships with neighbours
It would be beneficial to invest in the relationship with the Iraqi neighbour, located at the downstream end with whom the Euphrates is shared. Communities in Iraq have equally suffered from decreased flows upstream and have been mobilizing against Ilisu and other upstream dams for more than a decade. NES should build relations with their Iraqi neighbours. In this regard bilateral meetings between NES and Iraq, including academics and civil society, could be organized to discuss joint actions.

- Advocate with international platforms about the water crisis in NES
Despite logistical difficulties, Syrian voices and civil society groups, beyond officials of the Self-Administration, should be present in international platforms to inform the international community about the water crisis in NES. Such platforms could include the World Water Forum and the Mesopotamian Water Forum, or global civil society networks such as International Rivers. Here voices from the Middle-East often are lacking, despite the fact that the region suffers more than most other areas from water scarcity and water conflicts. If a personal presence at such forums is not possible, digital seminars could be organized or one could look into digital participation.

- Train local researchers/activists/youth to document and monitor river pollution and water scarcity at local level.
There is a lack of reliable data on the availability of water resources in NES. Most recent data is provided by INGOs operating in the area. Their reach, however, is limited. Authorities and universities in NES, with the assistance of civil society, could train local communities in the monitoring and documentation of water levels and pollution and provide a network to exchange data in order to create a comprehensive overview of fluctuations in the status of water resources in NES.

- Advocate with the Self-Administration, with the inclusion of Rojava University and other academics, to produce a comprehensive strategy for water resources management in NES
The region is in need of a comprehensive water management plan, for at least the next five years. Such a plan should ideally be basin wide and could be developed with the assistance of the international community based on recent data. It must support environmental impact assessments for all water infrastructure to be built in the region.

- Build local democratic collective governance structures of water and other ecological issues
Introducing community water stewardship can counteract uncontrolled water use from groundwater wells. The initiation of the follow-up committee at the Water Forum is a great step in this direction. In critical situations such local decision-making bodies might identify non-essential or wasteful water consumption and rationalise water use based on democratically agreed priorities. Such structures can identify gaps in the water management and required steps to address them like training of local practitioners on sustainability of water use and management.

- Make use of the potential of technical interventions by the AANES
The AANES can explore the potential to mitigate the water crisis with smaller technical interventions that intervene in different parts of the water system like:
-- Identification and reduction of water losses through checking and fixing leaking water pipes.
-- Increase of the resilience of the water system by identifying and bolstering up key components like the Alouk pumping station e.g. through building alternative stations and pipes.
-- Needs evaluation and provision of small-scale water filters for drinking water.
-- Reduction of water contamination and waste-water ideally at source.
-- Assessment and piloting of grey-water reuse e.g. for irrigation.
-- Assessment, optimization and repair of agricultural irrigation systems.

- Longer-term shift in agriculture and landscapes
The shift towards low-irrigation, drought-resistant, climate-resilient crops (incl. research and seed banks) reduces water need for irrigation and susceptibility to  risks of the climate crisis. Reforestation and greening improves the water-retaining capacity of the soil and the overall natural water cycle.