5. Water Crisis in Southern Iraq: Civilians at Grave Risk
Iraq’s 24 million people—almost half of them children under the age of 15—are extremely vulnerable to water shortages during the conflict.42 After 12 years of crippling economic sanctions, the infrastructure has only been partially rebuilt, with a resulting decrease in water availability from 330 to 150 liters per person per day in Baghdad, and from 180 liters to 65 liters in rural areas.43 The UN Oil-for-Food Program (OFFP) has provided limited funds to rehabilitate the water system since 1998, but that program has already been suspended due to the war.44
The potential collapse of the water system in southern and central Iraq is the most serious humanitarian emergency of the war. According to UNICEF, “this conflict will have more people dying from water treatment plants going down than from war itself.”45
The situation in Basra is a case in point. On March 21, US-British bombing destroyed high voltage lines and knocked out Basra’s electrical power.46 That in turn disabled Basra’s water and sanitation systems, including the Wafa' Al Qaed Water Pumping Station, which pumps water from the Shatt al-Arab river to five water treatment plants that supply piped water to over 60% of Basra’s 1.5 million residents.47 On March 25, a British military spokesperson cited the crisis resulting from lack of water and electricity as a justification for continuing military action: “taking Iraq’s southern city of Basra has now become a military objective in order to get humanitarian aid to civilians there.”48 The situation may soon improve, as ICRC has supplied six back-up generators to restart Wafa’ Al Qaed and reports that “as of April 2 it should be possible to resume the water supply to several water treatment plants in the city.”49
The crisis is already severe in urban centers throughout southern and central Iraq that, like Basra are encircled and besieged by Anglo-American military forces. On April 2, the ICRC reported that “entire towns and suburbs have now been without piped water for about a week, including several district towns north of Dhi Qar and Najaf but also towns south of Basra such as Al-Zubayr and Safwan.”50 An ICRC engineer surveyed south and west of Baghdad and found that “major water treatment plants… are now only operating at 40-50% of their normal capacity, owing to repeated power cuts.”51
The most dangerous situation is in Baghdad, where over 5 million residents face a potentially fierce and extended battle for control of the seat of government power. Military analysts believe that Iraq has concentrated “some 250,000 Republican Guard and regular Army strengthened by perhaps as many as 75,000 irregulars” in and around Baghdad.52 General Richard Myers, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has indicated that “the first option” might be to cut off Baghdad from the rest of Iraq: “When you get to the point where Baghdad is basically isolated… you have a country that Baghdad no longer controls.”53
If the strategy of extended siege is accompanied by disruption of essential services, the population of Baghdad faces a grave risk of increased water-borne disease. Major water treatment facilities lie outside the city center. The ICRC has warned that “As US forces tighten their encirclement of Baghdad, workers may be cut off from the plants as happened in the southern city of Basra.”54
On the evening of April 3, power to Baghdad was cut off for the first time since the Anglo-American invasion began on March 19. An American journalist reported that:
The blackout followed a 15 minute artillery barrage on Baghdad’s southern outskirts, where approaching US forces were assaulting Saddam International Airport, about 10 miles southwest of Baghdad. One of Baghdad’s key power-generating plants is at Dora, near the airport.55
42 UNDP, Living Conditions in Iraq, (September 2002).
43 UNICEF, The Situation of Children in Iraq, (February 2002).
44 United Nations, Daily News Digest from the United Nations News Service, (March 17, 2002).
45 Geoffrey Keele, UNICEF spokesperson, cited in Friend, T. “Dirty water may become Iraq’s biggest killer,” USA Today (April 1, 2003).
46 Melgren, D. and Hanley, C., “Brits fighting fierce battles with 1,000 militia near Basra,” Associated Press (March 26, 2003).
47 Robert Mardini, coordinator for ICRC water and habitat programmes in Iraq, talks about the water situation in Basra. See http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/audio_iraq.
48 “Basra Fighting Intensifies,” BBC News, (March 25, 2003).
49 ICRC, Daily Bulletin, (April 2, 2003). Waddington, R., “Red Cross works on Basra water plant, aid groups wait,” Relief Web – Reuters (March 25, 2003).
50 ICRC, Daily Bulletin, (April 2, 2003).
51 ICRC, Daily Bulletin, (April 1, 2003).
52 Bennett, Richard M., “The Defence of Baghdad – Special Military Report,” AFI Research Intelligence Briefing (April 3, 2003).
53 Gen. Richard Myers, cited in Oliver, M., “Airport ‘under US control,’” The Guardian (April 4, 2003).
54 Roland Huguenin-Benjamin, ICRC spokesperson, quoted in Shadid, A., “Blackout Increases Foreboding, Darkness Still City Bracing for Chaos,” Washington Post, (April 4, 2003).
55 Shadid, A., “Blackout Increases Foreboding, Darkness Still City Bracing for Chaos,” Washington Post, (April 4, 2003).
