US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1804

UNCLAS ANKARA 001804 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI - A. SALZBERG; NEA/REA - C. LAWSON 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: IZ, PREL, SENV, SY, TU 
SUBJECT: EARLY SNOW MELT FORCES LARGE WATER RELEASE FROM 
TURKEY'S EUPHRATES DAMS 
 
REF: DAMASCUS 1469 
 
 
1.  An early snow-melt in north-eastern Turkey filled 
Turkey's Euphrates dams, forcing authorities to release a 
record amount of water downstream to Syria and Iraq.  For ten 
days beginning March 11, and for the first time since 
building the dams, Turkey opened reservoir spillways to 
release as much as 2,500 cubic meters per second.  The normal 
flow for the spring season averages about 800 cubic meters 
per second.  By March 22, the flow of water to Syria had 
declined to 1,358 cubic meters per second and Turkish 
officials told us that the northern-most reservoir (Keban) 
now has enough excess storage capacity to handle the 
remaining snow melt. 
 
 
2.  CPA and U.S. military officials in Iraq had been 
concerned that, had the extraordinary flow continued for 
long, rising waters could have forced some military units to 
move their bases.  MFA has agreed to supply embassy REO with 
weekly information on water flow to Syria (Euphrates) and 
Iraq (Tigris), which we will pass on to CPA. 
 
 
3.  Turkish authorities informed the Syrian government ahead 
of the release.  Their embassy and consulate in Aleppo 
reported that the high flow did not result in any flooding in 
Syria.  MFA Water Department Head Mithat Rende took the 
opportunity to point our that the much-criticized Turkish 
dams provide a critical service to Syria and Iraq, preventing 
flooding in the spring and ensuring water flow in the dry 
months of summer.  He said that before the dams were 
constructed spring floods regularly devastated villages and 
farmland along the river.  For example, in 1967, the flow of 
water to Syria reached 10,000 cubic meters per second. 
 
 
4.  Turkey has constructed an extensive system of Euphrates 
dams, which can store 90.66 cubic kilometers of water.  This 
is roughly equivalent to three years' flow into Syria.  The 
largest dam -- Ataturk -- has a capacity of almost 50 cubic 
kilometers.  The Euphrates river basin covers almost 122,000 
square miles in Turkey, collecting 33 cubic kilometers of 
water each year. 
 
 
5.  The former director of Turkey's State Hydraulics Agency 
and Professor at Middle East Technical University, Dogan 
Altinbilek, shared with us his estimates for the annual water 
flow along the Euphrates.  Of the 33 cubic kilometers of 
water collected in Turkey's portion of the Euphrates basin, 
about 17 is released into Syria.  Syria's tributaries add 
about 2 cubic kilometers and Syria uses about 5.5, leaving 
13.5 for Iraq.  Because Iraq uses 15.5 cubic kilometers from 
the Euphrates, it would be dry before reaching the Gulf if 
not supplemented by water from the Tigris, according to 
Altinbilek's estimates. 
 
 
Baghdad Minimize Considered 
EDELMAN