Iraqi Water Resources Ministry Says 90 Per Cent of Kirkuk’s Shirin Dam Built

Text of report by Iraqi Media Network weekly newspaper Al-Sabah on 7 July

[Report by Mustafa Majid in Baghdad: "Over 90 Per cent of the Works on the Shirin Dam in Kirkuk Has Been Carried Out."]

Technical cadres at the Water Resources Ministry have carried out more than 90 per cent of the Shirin Dam project in the Kirkuk Governorate. The dam, which is expected to cost about 5 billion dinars, will be capable of storing over 2 billion cubic meters of potable and irrigation water. In statements to the press, a media source at the ministry has stated that the 5.3-billion dinar dam, which lies in the Shirin Valley 14 kilometres north of the Lilan Subdistirct in the Kirkuk Governorate, is aimed at storing about 2 billion cubic meters of drinking and irrigation water. The source also pointed out that the project, of which more than 90 per cent has been carried out, will be finished and benefit from the upcoming rain season as scheduled. The project includes a 426-kilometre long and 19-meter high rampart consisting of mud coated with gravel on both sides. It also has stone-coated filters at the rear part, a water outlet with a diameter of 1 meter, and a cement-coated water course with a capacity of 10 cubic meters per second.

Originally published by Al-Sabah, Baghdad, in Arabic 7 Jul 08.

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