Once upon a time, Iraq’s Razzaza Lake was a charming tourist spot celebrated for its picturesque views and teeming fish that were a lifeline for the locals. Sadly, today the shores are strewn with lifeless fish, and the once lush surroundings have transformed into a desolate desert.
About Razzaza Lake
- Razzaza Lake, also known as Lake Milh, Arabic for Salt Lake, is located between Iraq’s governorates of Anbar and Karbala.
- It’s the second largest lake in Iraq and is part of a wide valley that includes the lakes of Habbaniyah, Tharthar and Bahr al-Najaf. Lake Tharthar is the largest.
- The lake was constructed as a measure to control floods in the Euphrates and to be used as a huge reservoir for irrigation purposes.
- Iraq is and tourists frequented the lake as a recreational spot to cool down during Iraq’s hot summers.
- In recent years, it has been affected not only by the water shortage but by drought, neglect and increased evaporation during Iraq’s hot summers.
- It has also been hit by pollution due to the diversion of sewage water into the lake and the theft of water quotas allocated to it.
Euphrates River
- Euphrates River is the longest river in southwest Asia.
- It is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system.
- The river rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq.
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