Water Use Practice and Water Law in the Kurdistan Region: How can Sustainability be Achieved?

Abstract

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) has more water resources than the rest of Iraq to the point that it can be water sufficient if water resources are well managed, nevertheless these resources are currently facing depletion and they are increasingly polluted. This paper reviews water use practice in KRI and its existing laws on water from the sustainability point of view. It finds that the current practice of water use is devastating to water sustainability and that the laws need further improvement and better enforcement on the ground.