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Karez Restoration

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  In Iraq today, drought-induced migration has contributed to an existing trend of rural-urban migration, often caused by conflict, poverty and other socio-economic factors such as health-related issues. Water scarcity has the potential to have far-reaching consequences for both migrants and their host communities.

  Since March 2010, IOM has been in partnership with UNESCO for the restoration of karezes in the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah. Karezes are ancient traditional water systems which provide rural areas with irrigation and drinking water in a sustainable manner. In this new era of modernization, they were slowly forgotten in favour of water sources which were considered more modern and efficient such as deep or shallow wells. However, as drought and climate change put additional stress on the water resources, karezes have been re-discovered as a sustainable source of water in rural areas of Kurdistan.

  After one year of project implementation, IOM has completed the restoration of 15 karezes in the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah thus providing easier access to drinking and irrigation water to 256 families and to 50 hectares of cultivated land in 10 villages. The project has even trained younger workers in the art of karez restoration, therefore bringing back to life this very ancient profession.