Iraq’s Mosul Dam – A Coming Disaster of Biblical Proportions?

As for Iraq’s Mosul Dam, things are OK, or they are very much not OK.

It all depends on whom you believe. The dam, started in 1981, was formerly known as the Saddam Dam. It is on the Tigris River 45 miles north of Mosul, Iraq. The dam is used both for irrigation and hydroelectric power. It is said to be one of the biggest dams in the Middle East.

The dam was briefly in the hands of Daesh, but was re-captured by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in August 2014. The dam needs constant maintenance, or grouting to shore up its unstable foundation, and much of that maintenance has been ignored during the political and military instability that has characterized the state of Iraq since 2003.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has warned of serious consequences in terms of loss of life if the dam does collapse. In an article published by Deutsche Welle on April 24, 2016, Iraq engineers dismiss US warnings of imminent collapse. Their logic seems to be that since it is not happening or hasn’t happened, it won’t.

Should the dam collapse, there is a doomsday scenario that sees flooding in Mosul down to Tikrit and finally Bagdad. Millions would be killed, and Bagdad itself would be under water. And Iraq, now the scene of a war against Daesh, and ailing in so many areas, would become a failed state with millions of dead and an unprecedented regional refugee crisis.

 Deutsche Welle Article

Globe and Mail Article

Photo: Peshmerga fighter at Mosul Dam, Kurdishstruggle via flickr