It is difficult for Americans to appreciate the significance of steps such as a canal clean up. We take clean water for granted and do all we can to ensure that our waterways are usable. In Iraq, it is a different matter. A simple thing like cleaning up a canal system has many ramifications, people’s health, agriculture, the local economy, and all those things that these basic improvements then create.

Local Iraqis are cleaning the 250-kilometer Hahwar canal system to improve the distribution of water from the Tigris River to southwest Wasit Province.

The canal system provides water to 240,000 donums (59,000 acres) of crop land, roughly 10 percent of the arable land in Wasit, which is home to over 2,000 farmers.

“It’s been almost two years since the canals were cleaned, and it was a government project,” said Ahmed Abed Alwaaly, the contractor in charge of the project. “This project is better.”

The $378,000 canal cleaning project is funded by the Iraqi Commander’s Emergency Response Program and was implemented by the 41st Fires Brigade Civil Affairs Team in conjunction with the Wasit Provincial Reconstruction Team’s agricultural advisor.

“This project is combined with the Hahwar pumping station project, which is a 1.7 million dollar ICERP project,” said Col. Richard Francey, 41st Fires Bde. commander. “It will be interesting to see how far out we can get the water with these two projects.”

“The people here will be very happy with this project because it will help a lot of farmers,” said a local farmer to Francey. “A lot of people left this area because they were not making any money farming.”

“Before 2003, a lot of the agricultural products for the province came from this area”, said Ahmed. “The people here are very poor, but they have big hearts.”

The canal cleaning project employs over 300 people a day with workers hired from local communities supported by the canal system.

The project is scheduled to run for six weeks, and the pumping station project has a projected completion date of Sept. 2009.

MNF-I

For thousands of years, the people in the rural areas surrounding Baghdad relied on canals to distribute water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers to farms in the area. It is these farms which sustain the people and provide fresh food to the city.

Since the 1960s the irrigation infrastructure fell into disrepair due to lack of maintenance and illegal tapping, said Capt. Mark Gillman, an engineer assigned to the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

When violence struck the Taji Qada, northwest of Baghdad in 2003, irrigation systems were further degraded and the people who lived and worked on the land suffered. The hardest blow to the infrastructure hit in 2007 when a mortar round destroyed Pump Station 1. This pump station lies directly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and pumps water to nearly all the farms along the canal systems.

After that incident, the Government of Iraq disabled power to the pump station and the irrigation systems ran dry.

Recognizing the problem, Coalition forces began to work with the GoI to bring water back to the farms in the area.

Since August, approximately $1 million of GoI and Commander’s Emergency Relief Project funds have been poured into restoring and expanding the irrigation pump station, installing a dedicated electrical line and repairing the irrigation canals.

The results are clearly visible from the air. What was once brown, dry land now is green and lush and crops are thriving.

“It is really incredible, how green the area is now,” said Maj. Anthony Barbina, brigade engineer for the 2nd SBCT.

Barbina estimates nearly 13 square kilometers of farm land is now restored.

“The contrast (from the air) shows visually what we’ve been saying for months,” he said. “The security is better. When security is better, the government can function and as the security gets better the land starts producing again.”

There is still more to complete, but both Barbina and Gilman say they are hopeful that progress will continue and the GoI will continue to be instrumental in the further refurbishments of the irrigations systems in the area.

MNF-I

Bottled water or tap water? For several years this has been an unfiltered debate in the United States. Now it is a debate for the citizens of Abu Ajil, Iraq.

A water treatment facility project was recently completed in Abu Ajil, which is located just outside of Tikrit, Iraq. The facility will provide a better purified source of water for more than 15,000 Iraqi citizens who inhabit the famed Fertile Crescent region.

For thousands of years, the Tigris River has been the wellspring of life for Iraq, providing abundant refreshment to crops, animals and the people of ancient Mesopotamia.

The Tigris River has seen dramatic changes in the last fifty years. During the 1960’s and 70’s several dams and barrages were created to harness the river for irrigation and hydroelectric purposes according to a Georgetown University report. Additionally, former dictator Saddam Hussein created forced droughts on marsh lands in southern Iraq by constructing river obstacles.

Today, the Soldiers of Charlie Company, 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division opened the floodgates of the newly completed water treatment facility initially built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers several years ago.

The 1st STB Executive Officer Maj. Tim Povich said, “This project was stalled for a little while and it took C Co. commander Capt. Mike Gacheru working with Abu Ajil leadership as well as the Provincial Reconstruction Team to help get this project moving again.”

Povich added, “It’s a start, but there is still a lot of work to be done.” Water managers and engineers were concerned about leaks in the water pipes due to poor sealants. Poor sealants may cause low water pressure.

Charlie Company commander Capt. Mike Gacheru said, “It’s a great day opening up this water project in Abu Ajil. The residents did not have water for about a year. Most of the people had to buy bottled water at the store. The people were getting sick from non-bottled water.”

The people of Iraq have endured a parched lifestyle for decades. This water treatment facility is a step forward in quenching their desire for a better life. A local Iraqi citizen said, “Thank you very much. This is a great project.”

DVIDS
By Maj. Johnpaul Arnold
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

Coalition forces conducted an assessment of the al Kut Water Company April 6.

Lt. Col. Mario E. Murcia, an engineer with El Salvador’s Cuscatlán Battalion’s Civil Military Cooperation team, visited the water company to assess its capacity and maintenance.

The water company supplies 300,000 residents of the city with water, said Diaa Mohammed Obed, an engineer and supervisor of the water company.

Using five pumps, water is carried from the Tigris River to the plant for treatment. Once treated, four additional pumps carry the water from the plant to residents in the city.

The company also uses trucks to transport water to towns and villages surrounding al Kut, said Obed.

The only obstacle is obtaining spare parts for the machinery when problems arise, said Obed. Many of the parts are not available in nearby markets and must be purchased outside the local area. However, he said overall operations at the plant continue thanks to maintenance checks every six months.

“The company is functioning at around 80 – 90 percent capacity, but they still need help.” Murcia said. “The more help we provide the water company, the more it helps the community.”

Besides the main company in the city, the Salvadoran soldiers visited a water station in the village of al Yusofia, west of the city. The Cuscatlán Battalion previously refurbished a school and clinic in the village.

The village uses a man-made canal connected to the Tigris River to fill a small reservoir. The reservoir supplies the school, clinic and homes in the surrounding area with water. Unfortunately, water levels are currently lower than what is required for the pumps to supply the entire village, said Murcia. Because of the low levels, the school and some of the residents do not receive any water from the station.

Murcia discussed with local leaders plans to expand and clean the canal in order to increase the flow and level of water. Plans are being developed to potentially build an additional conjoined reservoir to better supply all 600 residents of the village.

Task Force Marne
By Staff Sgt. Carlos J. Lazo

A new pontoon bridge linking the al Dura’iya and Diwaniya banks of the Tigris River officially opened in a ceremony March 15.

Members of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team looked on as a ribbon was cut on each side of the floating bridge which joins two communities separated by the Tigris River. A pontoon bridge historically connected the communities, but was destroyed prior to the arrival of the 3rd HBCT to the area.

After the ribbons were cut, Iraqi Security Forces and citizens from both sides of the river walked to the center of the bridge and greeted each other with hand shakes and traditional Iraqi greetings.

According to Capt. Rich Thompson, commander of Company B, 1st Battalion,15th Infantry Regiment, the bridge project took 10 days to complete, most of which was preparation for the actual construction.

Thompson, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., said after Company B Soldiers secured both sides of the river, Soldiers from the 814th Multi-Role Bridge Company and the 74th Engineer Dive Team took just eight hours to set and anchor the bridge.

Before the opening, Soldiers from Company B drove a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP) and a Humvee over the bridge to test its durability.

Thompson said members of the Sons of Iraq will secure both shores of the bridge.

“People wanted the bridge to get between the Diwaniya area and the al Dura’iya area,” he said. “The bridge is their link to Salman Pak so they can transport their produce and agricultural products. They are big farming communities so this bridge really helps their economy.”

Thomson said the bridge also significantly decreases the travel time to the hospital in Salman Pak for the residents of Diwaniya.

Lt. Col. Jack Marr, from Minneapolis, commander of the 1-15th Inf. Regt., said citizens will be able to travel on the bridge during daylight hours. If someone needs to cross the bridge at night, they must have a local or tribal leader contact the battalion.

Marr sees the bridge opening as more than a means of improving mobility for local residents. In a speech before the ribbon-cutting, Marr said the bridge symbolizes a bridge built to fortify the relationships between all Iraqi citizens as well as their relationships with Coalition forces.

Col. Wayne W. Grigsby, Jr., from Prince George’s County, Md., commander of the 3rd HBCT also attended the opening.

The 3rd HBCT, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.

Task Force Marne