ISISISIS closes gates on Ramadi dam, cutting off water to towns loyal to Baghdad

Global security analysts have warned for some time now that water scarcity due to climate change will be used as a tool of war in regions with poor governance. The on-going wars in Iraq and Syria provide the first examples of the strategic and tactical use of water as a tool of war, as militant groups operating in both countries – and, in Syria, to government of Bashar al-Assad — have been using the denial of water as a tool against areas and populations they regard as hostile. “ISIS has established a blueprint that can be used by other entities to take advantage of drought and water scarcity,” writes one researcher. “For all the conversation about ISIS taking control of oil refineries, one could argue that their control of water is even more significant, as it deprives the population of a resource necessary for daily sustenance and gives the militant group significant leverage over local governments and populations.”

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Also noted:

Water scarcity increase Middle East instability,30 April 2015

Water scarcity a contributing cause of wars, terrorism in Middle East, North Africa, 1 April 2015

ISIS uses control of water as a tool of war, 12 December 2014

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Last month ISIS militants captured a dam on the Euphrates River to the north of the Iraqi city of Ramadi, and last week they began closing most of its gates, cutting water supplies to pro-government towns and villages downstream. Iraqi officials say that the move will also make it easier for the Islamists to attack forces loyal to Baghdad.

The large dam has twenty-six gates, but ISIS have kept only two or three gates open for brief periods of time daily.

The head of the security council in the town of Khalidiyah, Sheikh Ibrahim Khalaf al-Fahdawi, told CNN on Thursday that by closing most of the gates, and leaving two or three open, allows ISIS to prevent river water to flow from ISIS-controlled areas north of the dam, but allow just enough water to flow downstream to ISIS-held towns like Falluja.

al-Fahdawi said that the level of water in the Euphrates was now so low, ISIS militants could walk across it to attack the pro-government towns of Husaybah and Khalidiyah as well as the large security forces base at Habbaniya.

CBSNews notes that this is not the first time that water has been used as a weapon of war in Mideast conflicts, and in Iraq in particular. Earlier this year, ISIS reduced the flow through another lock outside the militant-held town of Fallujah, also in Anbar province. But the extremists soon reopened it after criticism from residents.

The reduced flow of water allowed to flow through the dam on the Euphrates River will threaten irrigation systems and water treatment plants in nearby areas controlled by troops and tribes opposed to the extremist group, provincial council member Taha Abdul-Ghani told the AP. He said, though, that there would be no immediate effect on Shiite areas in central and southern Iraq, saying water is being diverted to those areas from the Tigris River.

“The use of water as a tool of war is to be condemned in no uncertain terms,” the spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters. “These kinds of reports are disturbing, to say the least.”

He said the UN and humanitarian partners will try to “fill in the gaps” to meet water needs for the affected population.