The Rehabilitation of Irrigation Regulators.. Their Importance and Role
Raqqa – Al Balikh irrigation canal is considered the only canal that transports irrigation water from the Euphrates Dam lake to agricultural lands. The canal irrigates wide lands measuring more than 30 thousand hectares, extending from the city of Tabqa, west of Raqqa to Jazzret Albu Hamid in the countryside of Deira Zour at a distance of more than more 180 km.
The 13 irrigation regulators positioned along the canal play a distributive role for water to the sub-canals spread across the lands, but most regulators were damaged and destroyed as a result of battles and clashes during the liberation phase of Raqqa.
Soon after the liberation, the rehabilitation of the regulators was a primary concern of the Civil Council in general and the Agriculture and Irrigation Committee in particular, because it has an important and major role in providing necessary water and reviving the agricultural life in the region.
In 2019, the committee was able to activate 6 of them, which are named as Al A’awaj, 43 Al Zahira, Al Rajem, Al Abyad, Al Galta, Mushairefeh, Shenina 1, Marouda. Otherwise, this number is not considered sufficient, so the committee launched another project on January 15, 2020, to rehabilitate and operate 5 other regulators.
The Director of the Operational Section of the Agriculture and Irrigation Committee Sheikh Nabi Ibrahim Khalil indicated that the work will continue until March 15 and the five regulators are ready. They are the following: kilo Safer, 28 Kabesh Garbi, Al Zahira, Tal Al Samen and Abu Wahl.
Al Khalil stressed on the importance of the regulators which lies in controlling the water level and facilitating its access to the desired places, for example, Jazzret Albu Hamid, was deprived of water for several years due to the randomness of the condition of the canal before the rehabilitation.
He added that the project cost is 400,000 $ and they are trying to maintain it before the start of the irrigation season.
Al Khalil said that the reasons for delaying the start were due to the drought wave that struck the region and the lack of necessary engineering machinery, in addition to the farmers’ delay in paying their irrigation fees.
This project is considered one of the most important works accomplished at the agricultural level in the city of Raqqa, which will play a major role in accelerating agricultural development.
SDF-Media Center
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