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24 March 2003

USAID Commits to Protecting Iraq Environment

(Agency says it will repair water, sanitation, irrigation systems)
(520)
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will use
environmental protection procedures during reconstruction efforts in
Iraq, the agency says.
In a March 21 press release USAID said it will address key
environmental issues in Iraq including repairing water and sewage
treatment facilities and rehabilitating irrigation networks.
Five million people in Iraq currently lack access to safe water and
sanitation, according to the release.
The agency said it will also work to improve the quality of Iraq's
soil. "Land degradation, salinization, and declining crop yields due
to mismanagement of land resources and lack of inputs are serious
problems, especially in irrigated lands," the release said.
Following is the text of the USAID press release:
(begin text)
March 21, 2003
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is committed to
environmental protection and improved management of natural resources
essential to Iraq's recovery and long-term economic development.
USAID, working in close coordination with other U.S. agencies, is
planning to address key environmental issues in Iraq by:
-- Improving water and land resources management;
-- Cleaning up rivers through sewerage treatment and improving public
health;
-- Strengthening solid waste management;
-- Reclaiming and rehabilitating critical marshlands, rivers and
waterways; and
-- Ensuring that USAID humanitarian and development assistance is
environmentally sound.
Water Supply and Sanitation. Five million people are at risk from lack
of access to safe water and sanitation. In rural areas, less than half
of the rural population has access to potable water. In urban centers,
pumping of untreated sewage into the Tigris River and waterways is a
serious environmental and health concern. USAID will:
-- Carry out a rapid assessment of water supply and sanitation
infrastructure for major population centers.
-- Initiate immediate repairs and rehabilitation of water supply and
sewerage treatment facilities.
-- Improve soil and water resources management. Farmers in Iraq are
struggling under poor environmental conditions with few tools for
coping with pests, drought, salinization, shortages of basic inputs,
and lack of appropriate technologies. Land degradation, salinization,
and declining crop yields due to mismanagement of land resources and
lack of inputs, are serious problems, especially in irrigated lands.
USAID will:
-- Support repair and rehabilitation of irrigation networks.
-- Improve water and soil resources management and conservation at the
farm and community level.
-- Introduce appropriate conservation and environmental management
technologies to reclaim degraded land.
Wetlands reclamation. The Iraqi regime deliberately and systematically
destroyed one of Iraq's key natural resources by draining and
destroying the Mesopotamian marshlands. USAID will:
-- Work with other partners to arrest further environmental
degradation and begin the restoration of these globally important
wetlands.
Environmental Review. To ensure that its humanitarian and development
assistance for Iraq is environmentally sound, USAID will:
-- Voluntarily apply its environmental procedures to assure that the
environmental consequences of its activities are identified and that
appropriate environmental safeguards are adopted and implemented.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic
and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.
For more information on USAID's humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq,
please visit www.usaid.gov/iraq/.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)