§ Baroness Williams of Crosbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their current estimate of the percentage of Iraq's population which has access to drinking water; and what is their estimate of that statistic one year previously. [HL1244]
§ Baroness AmosUntil the Gulf War in 1991 safe water was accessible by over 95 per cent of the urban and 75 per cent of the rural populations of Iraq. The last reliable pre-conflict figures are for the year 2000 and indicate that by that time coverage had dropped to 92 per cent and 46 per cent respectively. Deterioration of the system was particularly bad in the south, 3WA including Basrah, due to the policies of the former regime.
As a consequence of the conflict and subsequent looting it was estimated that the water sub-sector coverage deteriorated by an additional 50 per cent in some governorates, leading to intermittent supply and further degraded water quality. Overall, approximate estimates indicate that the immediate post-conflict coverage had fallen to 60 per cent of the urban and 30 per cent of the rural populations.
In Baghdad, compact water treatment units have now been rehabilitated. Measures to secure water treatment plants and prevent further looting have also been implemented. Hundreds of critical breaks in the water network have been repaired, increasing flow by 2 million litres per day. Additional new construction is ongoing at Baghdad's Sharkh Dijlah plant, which will add 40 per cent or 2.25 million litres per day to the water supply of eastern Baghdad by May 2004, benefiting 640,000 residents.
In Basrah, rehabilitation work has restored the water supply to pre-conflict levels and by spring 2004 the quality and volume of fully treated water supplied to Basrah will surpass the pre-war conditions of 17,000 cubic metres per hour of partially treated water. By the summer of 2004 rehabilitation of the Sweet Water Canal, which supplies water to Basrah, will be completed. This will allow its design capacity to be achieved, further benefiting 1.75 million residents.