Iraq's water reserves lowest in 80 years

Country of 46 million undergoing a serious environmental crisis

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Iraq's water reserves are at their lowest in 80 years after a dry rainy season, a government official said yesterday, as its share from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers shrinks.

Water is a major issue in the country of 46 million people undergoing a serious environmental crisis because of climate change, drought, rising temperatures and declining rain.

Authorities also blame upstream dams built in neighbouring Iran and Turkey for dramatically lowering the flow of the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates, which have irrigated Iraq for millennia.