The Ministry of Water Resources is a ministry within

the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Headed since May 2020 by Mehdi Rasheed Mehdi, it is responsible for

water management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

, including maintenance of the extensive system of irrigation

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s and

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s and other related tasks. Prior to the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, the ministry was known as the Ministry of Irrigation and employed 12,000 Iraqis, as well as 6,000 contract employees. The ministry was divided into five separate commissions and eleven state-owned companies. This was eventually reduced by the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

to six Directors General. The Ministry's budget was increased to 150 million United States dollars for 2004, compared to USD 1 million under the recent government of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. It was also retasked with flooding the southern marshlands that had been ordered drained. On 10 May 2004, CPA administrator

Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is an American diplomat. He led the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States, from May 2003 until June 2004. Early life and education Born on ...

declared the Ministry to be fully autonomous with

Latif Rashid Abdul Latif Rashid (; born 10 August 1944), also known as Latif Rashid () is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and the ninth president of Iraq, following the 2022 Iraqi presidential election. He was previously the Minister of Water Resources under th ...

as its head at the time."Amb. Bremer Transfers Full Sovereignty to the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources
10 May 2004

References and notes

External links

Iraq Ministry of Water Resources official website

Official site of the Ministry of Water Resources
under the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

{{government-stub

Water resources Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

Infrastructure in Iraq Water in Iraq