By Abdullahi Lukman
Record-high salinity levels in southern Iraq are threatening lives and livelihoods, killing livestock, destroying crops, and forcing families deeper into poverty.
In Basra province’s Al-Mashab marshes, farmers like Umm Ali have seen their poultry die as water once used for drinking and cooking has become toxic.
“We used to drink, wash and cook with water from the river, but now it’s hurting us,” said Umm Ali, a 40-year-old widow and mother of three, who lost dozens of ducks and chickens this season due to salt-contaminated water.
According to Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources, salinity in central Basra reached nearly 29,000 parts per million (ppm) last month—more than ten times higher than last year’s 2,600 ppm and approaching seawater levels. Freshwater typically contains less than 1,000 ppm.
Experts blame reduced freshwater flows and pollution for the rising salt levels, especially in the Shatt al-Arab, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet.
Hasan al-Khateeb of the University of Kufa warned that low water levels are failing to keep out encroaching seawater from the Gulf.
Farmer Zulaykha Hashem, 60, said the salinity is so severe she can no longer irrigate her pomegranate, fig, and berry crops. “We cannot even leave.
Where would we go?” she asked, highlighting the cycle of water crisis trapping many rural Iraqis—especially women, who make up nearly 25% of the region’s agricultural workforce, according to the UN.
The International Organization for Migration says 170,000 Iraqis have already been displaced due to climate-related factors like drought and water contamination.
Ineffective water management, decades of conflict, and upstream dams in Turkiye have also reduced Iraq’s access to its key rivers.
The country receives less than 35% of its allocated water share, authorities say.
In response, the Iraqi government has announced a desalination project in Basra to produce 1 million cubic meters of freshwater daily.
But for families like that of Maryam Salman—who moved to Basra from Missan hoping for better water—the damage is already being felt.
“There is no water, neither summer nor winter,” said Salman, whose buffalo now struggle to survive.
Fishermen are also affected.
Hamdiyah Mehdi, 52, said her husband returns from long days at sea empty-handed more often due to declining fish stocks.
“The murky and salty water has made life hard,” she said. “We take our frustrations out on each other.”
