Iraq and Syria sign water accord to coordinate Euphrates inflows

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq and Syria have signed a bilateral technical agreement in Damascus to establish joint mechanisms for managing cross-border water resources and align their diplomatic positions ahead of anticipated trilateral negotiations with Turkey over the Euphrates River basin. The discussions brought together technical delegations led by the Senior Technical Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, Hussein Abdul-Amir Bakka, and Syria’s Deputy Minister of Energy for Water and Electricity Affairs, Osama Abu Zaid. The bilateral protocol establishes immediate operational measures, including the deployment of joint hydrological gauging stations along the river, regular technical data exchanges, coordinated water quality testing, and collaborative frameworks for monitoring dam integrity and coordinating reservoir discharges. Both parties agreed to work toward convening a tripartite technical meeting including Turkish representatives in March 2027. The agreement builds directly on previous bilateral coordination meetings held in Baghdad in late June, aiming to settle longstanding operational frictions between the two downstream nations. Under their 1989 bilateral quota arrangement, Damascus commits to releasing 58% of Turkish Euphrates water inflows into Iraq while retaining 42% for domestic use. However, seasonal flow reductions and conflicting agricultural timelines frequently lead to operational strain around the Tabqa Dam in Syria and the Haditha Dam in Iraq. Beyond bilateral synchronization, the Damascus talks represent a unified push by downstream states against Turkey’s transboundary water policies. Ankara continues to govern Euphrates flows under a temporary 1987 protocol establishing a baseline release of 500 cubic meters per second, a framework severely constrained by upstream impoundments under Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). Both Baghdad and Damascus are pressing for a permanent, legally binding trilateral treaty aligned with international water law to guarantee equitable baseline quotas.