Damascus, Nov. 1 (SANA) Minister of Energy Mohammed al-Bashir met Sunday with a delegation from the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, headed by Technical Deputy Minister Hussein Abdul Amir Bakka, to enhance bilateral cooperation and coordinate the management of shared water resources.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Energy, the meeting held at the ministry headquarters in Damascus focused on expanding technical cooperation and exchanging expertise and hydrological data, particularly regarding the Euphrates River basin.
Hydrological data exchange and shared measuring stations
In a separate technical session, Deputy Minister of Energy for Water and Electricity Affairs Osama Abu Zayd held talks with the Iraqi delegation to evaluate Euphrates River water levels and recent hydrological developments.
The two sides discussed expanding real-time hydrological data exchanges, reactivating joint streamflow measurement stations along the river, and implementing joint mechanisms to monitor changes in water inflows.
Reactivating tripartite committee with Türkiye
The discussions also addressed joint coordination mechanisms between Syria and Iraq regarding upstream water policies with Türkiye, emphasizing the urgent need to reactivate and resume the work of the Syria-Iraq-Türkiye Tripartite Technical Committee on water resources. Technical training programs and joint capacity-building initiatives were also outlined.
The meetings were attended from the Syrian side by Director of the Water Sector Regulation Department Obada Mobyed, Director General of the Public Establishment for Drinking Water and Sewerage Taher al-Omar, Director General of the General Authority for Water Resources Ahmad al-Kawan, Director General of the Euphrates Dam Establishment Haitham Bakkour, and International Cooperation Director Firas Kerdoush.
The Iraqi delegation included Director General of the General Authority for Dams and Reservoirs Wissam Obeid, Director General of the National Center for Water Resources Management Ali Radi Thamer, Director of Haditha Dam Ali Saleh Shallal, alongside technical experts from the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources.
The talks build upon a joint technical agreement signed between the Syrian Ministry of Energy and the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources in Baghdad on June 25, establishing a formal framework for data sharing and joint basin management.
Kh.A / Mzn
