Objective:

WaSH practitioner will learn from a practical successfully implemented project aiming at building capacity of local water authority in the field of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Content: Water conservation is critical in Iraq considering escalating water scarcity. The two major surface water sources (Tigris and Euphrates) are overstretched by increased demand, decreased recharge due to climate change and dams in upstream countries. A 2010 study of the Iraq Water Supply estimated up to 40% of water was lost to leaks; due to insufficient maintenance, antiquated water systems. In order to address the problem, ACF partnered with Aquassistance to pilot an innovative project in Dohuk aiming to build the capacity of DoW maintenance team on leak detections technology. Following the provision of equipment, and training (theoretical and practical), ACF financed DoW to detect and fix 59 leaks in Dohuk city. This intervention enabled Dohuk DoW maintenance team to easily and cost effectively detect and repair water loss in their distribution network. Nine months after project closure, all participants from DoW were still using the leak detection equipment in their daily maintenance activities and were satisfied with performance of equipment in finding exact leaks locations

Expected Outcome:

Attendants will:

• Get interested in the approach and be aiming at replicating it to further professionalize water authorities in countries of intervention.

• Plan for other “low hanging fruit” in our reach to IWRM even in emergency and recovery settings.

Next steps:

ACF in the Middle East region is looking at replicating and expending this successful project in other location and covering other key activities in IWRM such as asset management