2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

IRAQ PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Iraq
Water is no longer a priority…
Iraq’s water and sewerage infrastructure has been one of the principal casualties of the Iraq war and
continues to suffer from the resultant social and political fall-out. Access to potable piped water
decreased between surveys carried out in 1996 and 2003 and 2004. According to the United Nations
in 2004, water and sewerage systems repair and enhancement costs will be US$7 billion, including
providing ‘universal’ (in other words, for those living in urban areas) access to potable water and
sewerage. In June 2005, Latif Rashid, the Water Resources Minister stated that he believed that Iraq
needs up to US$15 billion to repair its water and wastewater systems.
To date, three major contracts have been signed, along with a series of smaller projects worth a total
of up to $3.1 billion. This work was estimated to take two to three years after the Iraqi Ministry of
Water Resources was handed over to local control in May 2004. The ministry's 2004 budget is
US$150 million (€126 million) compared with US$1 million under Saddam. The first contract was
awarded to Bechtel (USA) and Parsons (USA) and was financed by USAID in 2003. As part of the
Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction - Phase II, Bechtel’s US$1,030 million contract covers Baghdad and
eight other cities. Bechtel will repair or upgrade a total of 19 water treatment facilities and restore
85% of Iraq’s total sewage treatment capacity. The project started this January and runs to
December 2005. CH2M Hill (USA) & Parsons Water Infrastructure, Inc. also has a contract to
provide support to the Public Works and Water Sector Program Management Office.
In March 2004, a series of water and sanitation contracts were announced, financed by the $18.6
billion appropriated by Congress to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. A joint venture between Washington
International Inc (USA, 90%) and Black & Veatch (USA, 10%) was awarded a contract with a ceiling
of US$600 million to rebuild the water sector. Later that month, FluorAmec (Fluor of the USA, 51%
and Amec of the UK, 49%) gained a US$1.1 billion contract to rehabilitate existing water systems and
build new treatment and distribution plants. The contract also involves sewerage rehabilitation and
constructing solid waste management systems in the North and South of Iraq. Secondary contracts
worth up to a further US$400 million were also signed.
According to USAid, by February 2005, 11.8 million people had been accessed by US$600 million in
investments in water and sanitation projects through the Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Program.
This includes the expansion of Baghdad’s main water treatment plant, which when complete will
recover 250 million gallons of drinking water per day, along with a wastewater treatment plant in
Baghdad which resumed operations in June 2004 having been out of service since 1992. However,
by April 2005, it emerged that all but US$1.07 billion of the US$3.65 billion pledged by the United
States toward new water infrastructure, has been diverted to security. In consequence, no new water
projects were started in 2005.
… as services and infrastructure suffer as a result
Approximately 77% of Iraqis lived in urban areas in 2000 and the latest data points to 22.5 million
people in Iraq in 2002. An official assessment of the water and sewerage infrastructure was carried
out by the Ministry of Housing and Development Co-Operation in 2004:
Water and wastewater services in Iraq:
Piped Water Safe Water Improved Connected WWTW
services Systems Sanitation to Sewerage
Urban 88% 60% 66% 47% 27%
Rural 43% 33% 56% 3% N/A
Sources: MHDC, WHO, USAID. WWTW data is for 2003
Overall, 54% of households have access to safe and stable drinking water supplies, 29% have safe
drinking water with an erratic supply and 17% have poor supplies of unsafe water. According to the
UNDP’s 2003 assessment (primarily based on 1996 data), 90% of households used to have access to
safe drinking water, so there has been a significant deterioration in water services. Likewise, a
decline from 93% access to improved sanitation to 66% was recorded, although caution is needed
when comparing such surveys.
112 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006