ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region on Sunday launched a landmark fresh water supply project in Erbil that would end years of water scarcity grievances and ensure water security in the city for the next three decades.

The landmark Erbil Water Supply Emergency Project provides drinking water to residents of 33 neighborhoods, all of whom had been gripped by severe water shortage in the past. 

For years, residents of Erbil had struggled with severe fresh water shortage. During scorching summer season, families at times had to pay for private tankers several times during the month in a bid to guarantee fresh water for their homes, an extra financial burden on people already struggling with financial crisis for years.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Sunday, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that “water scarcity was a serious crisis that people of the Kurdistan Region were struggling with.”

Prime Minister Barzani said "such projects are a response,” to all those who are asking where the KRG's revenues go to.

“We are ready to put our experience in service of all Iraq, wherever our expertise is needed,” Barzani added.

High-quality construction materials were used in the project, applying the international standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), according to information obtained by The New Region.

Prime Minister Barzani laid the foundation stone of the project in September 2024 to put an end to decades-long water scarcity in the Kurdistan Region’s capital city. 

“Less than a year ago we were here and set the foundation stone of this strategic project. We are now opening its first stage in a record time,” PM Barzani said. “I ask my dear sisters and brothers in Erbil to do their part too, please do not waste water, regardless of how abundant it is.”

The project, the largest of its kind across the Kurdistan Region, has 20 large tanks with the capacity to store 300,000 cubic meters of water. It also incorporates a refinery for the water that can filter up to 480,000 cubic meters of water every day, equivalent to 20,000 cubic meters of water per hour. 

The project is located on the Upper Zab river in the Kawrgosk subdistrict of Erbil and has a budget of 480 million dollars.

The project will not just save Erbil residents from water shortage for the next three decades, but also have a positive impact on the underground water levels, as over 500 wells in the province, previously dug in a bid to solve water scarcity, will be closed down.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Municipalities and Tourism Sasan Awni said that 180 wells have already been closed down over the past six days.

"We will no longer need to use underground water. We hope underground water will revitalize with the closure of the water wells," PM Barzani said.

Implemented by Kurdish Hemn Group, over 5,000 employees worked on the project over three shifts daily.

“Our focus was on delivering our promise to the prime minister and the beloved people of Erbil in due time,” Khalid Khoshnaw, owner of Hemn Group, told attendees of the launch ceremony in a speech.

Khoshnaw added that they have used supplies and expertise of several European companies in the project.

A key focus of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ninth cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Barzani, is to revitalize the economy, laying the groundwork for and completing a significant number of projects to create jobs and secure lasting economic independence.

From July 2019 to September 2024, a total of 977 factories, with a budget of 1.1 billion dollars, have been licensed across the Kurdistan Region. They have collectively helped create 15,245 jobs, a strategic achievement for the ninth KRG cabinet, reducing the unemployment burden on the government’s shoulders.

Additionally, the ninth cabinet has carried out 430 projects during its tenure across various sectors, including trade, banking, health, industry, tourism, agriculture, and housing, according to the KRG.