Industry News
Weekly Update : Iraq Reconstruction - 11/12/04
By USAID
Nov 17, 2004 - 5:13:00 PM

Workers perform an alignment test on a newly drilled well in a rural community in central Iraq; the well was drilled as part of USAID’s rural water initiative.

Washington, DC -- Weekly Update -- This fact sheet highlights overall accomplishments and some weekly activities from USAID’s reconstruction efforts in Iraq. For more information on USAID’s programs in Iraq please see: www.usaid.gov/iraq








Program Overview

USAID programs are implemented in coordination with the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Coalition country partners, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private sector partners. The USAID Mission in Iraq carries out programs in education, health care, food security, infrastructure reconstruction, airport and seaport management, economic growth, community development, local governance, and transition initiatives.

Water and Sanitation Highlights this Week:

Work is moving forward on USAID’s rural water initiative. Since construction began last month, work has been conducted on 21 wells in rural areas of Diyala’ and Salah ad Din Governorates. Eighteen of the 21 have been drilled and six of those have been fully developed. The wells will bring water to rural communities with populations of 1,000 to 5,000. Engineers and project implementers are also preparing to expand the initiative to other regions of the country.

- Currently, there are approximately 4 million Iraqis living in regions where water is scarce or non-existent. Various non-profit groups work to help the smallest of these communities — typically populations of less than 1,000 — to find and establish a source of water. However, many mid-sized communities with populations above 1,000 but below 5,000 are underserved. The rural water initiative will install approximately 150 wells in 300 rural communities. The project is scheduled for completion in all 17 governorates by August 2005 and is expected to benefit a total of 750,000 individuals.

- Expansion of a water treatment plant in Baghdad is continuing and is scheduled for completion during the first part of 2005. Recently, a tie-in from the reservoir to the filter has been completed and backfilled, sludge pump station discharge piping has been installed, and backfilling has begun. Additionally, an emergency generator has been moved into the generator building and a medium voltage distribution board for the emergency generator has been installed. The control station for the pump house has also been installed.

- The plant is one of two main water treatment plants that serve 4.7 million Baghdad residents. Current production at the plant is estimated at 135 million gallons per day. However, there is still a shortage in the city, mostly affecting the poorer, eastern part of Baghdad including the Thawra neighborhood, formerly called Sadr City. Work at the plant will increase potable water flow to east Baghdad by 45 percent, benefiting 2.5 million people. The expansion will add approximately 50 million gallons per day to the water supply. This project currently employs 277 Iraqis.


Source: USAID, http://www.usaid.gov/

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