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Sweet Water Canal Project
Basrah, Iraq
October, 2003
Loaders remove accumulaed silt from a section of 1 of 2 storage reservoirs in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Loaders remove accumulaed silt from a section of 1 of 2 storage reservoirs in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
A senior Civil Engineer of the US Army Corps of Engineers and an Iraqi Site Engineer inspect ongoing work at the Sweet Water Canal project. Since 1996 the canal has supplied all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
A security guard watches as fishermen remove fish from a reservoir on the Sweet Water Canal that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Two storage reservoirs (on R & L) of the Sweet Water Canal control flow of fresh water downstream. The project supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
Fishermen use nets to catch fish from a spillway in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The reservoirs must be drained before the accumulated silt can be removed. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
A fisherman holds a fish trapped netted in the Sweet Water Canal project that supplies all the fresh water to the city of Basrah and environs. The reservoirs must be drained before the accumulated silt can be removed. The serpentine walls within the reservoir are designed to slow the flow of water allowing solids to settle providing cleaner water to water treatment plants downstream. The 275km canal, storage reservoir and pumping stations have suffered from a lack of maintenance and will be rehabilitated by USAID partner Bechtel at a cost of almost $12 milllion. When completed by March 1, 2004 it will serve 1.75 million citizens of the Basrah region.
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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.

Sweet Water Canal Restoration Complete

WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov/
Press: (202) 712-4320
Public Information: (202) 712-4810

2004-111

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2004

Contact: USAID Press Office

The U.S. Agency for International Development's $23 million rehabilitation of Southern Iraq's Sweet Water Canal was successfully completed this week. The project was conducted on behalf of Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources with Bechtel Corporation serving as the prime contractor.

The massive cleansing and repair of this vital 149 mile waterway also includes the $12 million refurbishment of 13 water treatment plants and the repair of the RZero pumping station that sends water from the canal's reservoir through a network of pipelines leading to residential, commercial and agricultural users.

The Sweet Water Canal has been a primary source of fresh water for the city of Basrah since 1996. But lack of maintenance caused sediment to accumulate in sections of the canal and pumps to break because of the turbidity. When USAID undertook the rehabilitation, the canal's embankments were cracked and many mechanical and electrical components in the pumping stations were beyond repair.

The completed USAID project improves the quality and nearly doubles the quantity of fresh, potable water produced for the 1.75 million of the Basrah region. The training of local plant managers insures proper maintenance in the future.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years.

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Last Updated on: December 30, 2008