SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Dead fish lay in dry river beds, and a drinking water crisis is afoot, because neighboring Iran is diverting the flow of a river. The disaster that hit the towns of Qaladze and Khanaqin this summer has shocked the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Much of the problem, however, is far less visible. In the cool, green mountains near the Kurdish town of Biara, a walnut-growing area for decades, farmers complain that the mountain wells are drying up. Among them are Backtiar Hamakhan, who uses a spade to remove stones and sand to allow what little water there is to reach his trees. Despite this, the supply is no longer enough to fill his water cistern, and he watches as it flows downhill to his neighbor’s land. 

“It’s been getting less and less for four years now,” Hamakhan sighs. “And now one of our two wells has completely dried up.”

Those who farm these slopes overlooking the rugged border area with Iran still remember how only forty years ago they could grow tomatoes and tobacco here. Now, as three of the 10 wells feeding the village of Balkha have dried up and the others are producing less water, the walnut years may soon be over as well.