Turkish dams threaten to leave 5.4 million people in north Syria

An alliance of non-governmental organizations operating in northeast Syria warned on Wednesday that critically low water levels in the area caused by dams upstream in Turkey could soon shut down a crucial north Syrian dam, depriving millions of civilians of both potable water and electricity.

“A reduction in water levels and electricity supply would make the process of water provision and purification impossible, leaving 5.4 million people with no alternative sources of drinking water,” read the report provided to Kurdistan 24 by the alliance known as the NES Forum.

“Emergency water provision by humanitarian actors, such as water trucking,” it continued, “are also reliant on water supply from the Euphrates — there is also too little capacity for humanitarian actors to cover this size of population.”