Iraq¡¯s ¡®Lake Sawa¡¯ Dries Up For First Time In History Amid Water Scarcity

Iraq¡¯s famous and prominent Lake Sawa has dried up for the first time in its centuries-long history and locals believe that it is due to mismanagement by local investors, government neglect and climate change.

According to the India Today report, this year for the first time in its centuries-long history, the lake dried up and a combination of mismanagement by local investors, government neglect and climate change has ground down its azure shores to chunks of salt.

AP

Hussam al-Aqouli, a native of the nearby city of Samawa remembers the exact spot along southern Iraq¡¯s Lake Sawa where his two daughters once dipped their feet into clear waters. Now he stands there two years on and the barren earth cracks beneath him.

Lake Sawa is only the latest casualty in this broad country-wide struggle with water shortages that experts say is induced by climate change, including record low rainfall and back-to-back drought. The stress on water resources is driving up competition for the precious resource among businessmen, farmers and herders, with the poorest Iraqis counting among the worst hit amid the disaster.

AP

¡°This lake was known as the pearl of the south,¡± said al-Aqouli, 35, looking out onto the dry cavernous emptiness. ¡°Now it is our tragedy.¡±

Locals call the area surrounding Lake Sawa ¡°atshan¡± ¡ª or simply ¡°thirsty¡± in Arabic.

The lake has been formed over limestone rock and studded with gypsum formations and it has no inlet or outlet and the source of its waters had mystified experts for centuries, fuelling fantastical folklore and religious tales that locals recite as historical fact.

AP

Al-Aqouli said he spent his childhood frequenting the lake with his family. He hoped he could do the same when he started a family, he said. Instead, he spends his days on social media writing long blog posts and urging Iraqis to take action. Often, he feels hopeless.

The lake rises 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level and is about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) long and 1.8 kilometers (1 mile) wide.

Lake Sawa appears in some old Islamic texts. It is said the lake miraculously formed on the day the Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 A.D. Thousands of religious tourists visited the site annually to submerge themselves in its holy waters, which they believe are blessed by God.

AP

The lake¡¯s rich mineral deposits are also considered a cure by some for skin diseases prevalent in historically neglected Muthanna.

Locals say the drying up of the waters of Lake Sawa presages the return of the Imam al-Mahdi, a revered figure in Shiite Islam and a descendent of the prophet.

Experts said the lake has not dried up for good but its disappearance this year is a concerning consequence of the thousands of illegal wells dug by businessmen in nearby cement factories and manufacturing zones, a result of drought and decreasing waters along the nearby Euphrates.