Syrian Civil Defense Warns Euphrates Flooding in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor After Dam Discharge

Syrian Civil Defense warned residents in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces that the Euphrates River could flood as water levels continued to rise after increased discharge from the Euphrates Dam.

“After a forced drought and a sharp decline in water levels that the Euphrates River had suffered for years, the lifeline in eastern Syria returns to overflow again, and in an unprecedented historical event since 1988, the spillway gates at the Euphrates Dam began to open successively as the reservoir neared full capacity”

Al-Jazeera Net

SANA said the Syrian Civil Defense warned that river levels could rise by more than two meters after dam discharge was increased to 1,500 cubic meters per second.

Al-Jazeera Net

The UN had previously warned that “In the event of damage to the dam,” the humanitarian consequences would be “catastrophic: with large-scale flooding in Raqqa and in Deir Ezzor province.”

RFI reported that since Sunday the dam's control systems had been out of operation and a team of Syrian engineers had been sent to repair the damage, but Reuters said the engineers had to leave abruptly for several hours due to gunfire attributed to the jihadist organization.

In northern and eastern Syria, water levels of the Euphrates River rose over the past two days, causing flooding, and officials urged residents living on the banks to move inland.

State news agency SANA said that with the opening of the gates, about 1,800 cubic meters of water were flowing per second and that water levels in the river could rise about 2 meters in the coming hours.

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The Associated Press quoted Mohammed Amin, 65, saying, "Our losses are huge," after his Greek House restaurant in Raqqa was partially covered with water and fish were seen swimming in the main hall.

The AP also reported that Syria's Civil Defense warned people not to swim in the river and avoid passing on small bridges or using boats at the time of the flood, and it called on residents to move with their cattle to higher areas.

Beyond the immediate flooding warnings, RFI said concern in Syria had grown around the Tabqa dam on the Euphrates because it had become “at the heart of the fighting between the Islamic State group and Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by the United States.”

“Au fond d'une vallée encaissée, sur les bords du mythique fleuve Euphrate, la petite ville de Halfeti meurt à petit feu”

Le Monde.fr

RFI added that each side accuses the other of jeopardizing the stability of the structure, with the vast majority of the structure remaining in the hands of the Islamic State.

L'Orient-Le Jour described the Tabqa strategic dam as the largest in Syria and said it is built on the Euphrates River in Raqqa province, with a reservoir called Lake Assad that stretches 50 km long and covers an area of 630 km2.

It also reported that the dam was supposed to generate 880 megawatts of electricity and enable irrigation of more than 600,000 hectares, while the UN warning referenced “Large-scale floods in Raqqa and in the (province of) Deir ez-Zor” if water levels rise further or the dam is damaged.