Warning Mosul Dam could collapse after heavy rains

Iraqi authorities have moved to discharge water from Mosul’s Dam after warning that heavy rains had left it facing a possible catastrophic collapse.

The dam, near the northern city of Mosul, is the largest hydro-electricity plant in the country. It was built in the 1980s on a soft gypsum layer on the Tigris river and is in desperate need of upgrades to avoid a possible disaster, experts told The National.

“The dam cannot hold any more water, so an amount must be released leading to an increase in the water levels of the Tigris River, or the dam will collapse,” a statement by the dam’s administration said.

However, if engineers release too much water too quickly, they risk causing flooding and other issues downstream.

Maintenance work was disrupted in 2014 when the dam was captured by ISIS fighters.

If the dam failed it would unleash a wave of water almost 90 metres high, experts say, that could inundate major cities including Baghdad.

Such a wave “will cover the old town of Mosul, which has never been flooded before as it is much higher than the river”, Iraqi environmental scientist Azzam Alwash told The National.

The water would reach Mosul within three hours and Baghdad within 72 hours.

“Every city and village will be flooded,” Mr Alwash said.

The dam’s foundation requires regular cement injections, or grouting, to prevent cracks in the gypsum from expanding.

Although people may survive the flooding, the aftermath would be devastating, Mr Alwash said.

“Imagine cities without operating cars nor generators nor clean water, and no access to clinics or hospitals or food stores,” he said.

Heavy rain and snowmelt in neighbouring Turkey and Iran have almost filled Iraq’s four central reservoirs and swelled its two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates.

Weeks of bad weather have led to floods in Iraq that have displaced hundreds of families and destroyed crops and farmlands.

High water levels were blamed for a disaster last month in which 100 people drowned after a tourist ferry capsized in Mosul.

This week, Iraq’s water ministry tried to reassure the public that the situation was under control and the dam safe.

“We are in control of the dams and reservoir levels, we are not worried about their stability,” ministry spokesman Aoun Diab said.

Despite the reassurance, Mr Alwash said the ministry’s statement was “out of context a bit and sensational”.