Iraq’s Tanjero River polluted and neglected
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan, Iraq, April 7, 2011 (ENS) – The Tanjero River, which runs southwest of the city of Sulaimani, was once a sizeable river flowing with clean water, but today it is reduced to a polluted stream filled with sewage, says the environmental group Nature Iraq. Anna Bachmann of Nature Iraq says that a visit to the river conducted by the group last month turned up extensive impacts caused by in-stream gravel-mining, raw sewage and solid waste from the city of Sulaimani, and polluters burning electronic parts by the river to recover the metals they contain. Nature Iraq is initiating a new project to focus on finding solutions to these kinds of problems. The Upper Tigris Waterkeeper Project will act as a voice and advocate for rivers and the communities that depend upon them in the Upper Tigris Basin. The Tanjero is a small river in the Upper Tigris Basin formed by linking two streams – Kani-Ban and Qiliasan – with other small tributaries. The river flows through the Tanjero Valley, which is used for agriculture and livestock raising. Qiliasan is the major tributary, but it is an ephemeral stream, which sometimes disappears during the dry summer season, a situation worsened by the construction of an upstream dam. In-stream gravel mining is a common occurrence not only in the Tanjero river but also throughout Iraqi river systems, Bachmann said, although it destroys riparian habitat and fisheries and causes erosion problems. In addition, Bachmann says, “The entire sewage load of the city is dumped into the river and then it is used to irrigate agricultural fields and water livestock around Sulaimani, Arbat, Said Sadiq and New Halabja, with each town and village adding their own contribution to the sewage and toxic load that the river carries.” …
