The capacity at Devegeçidi Dam, the most important irrigation point of the province, rose up to 65% owing to the past several weeks of rain that significantly reduced drought intensity in southern Diyarbakır province.
The dam, established in 1972, provides irrigation water to 58,000 decares of agricultural land in Diyarbakir. It reached a capacity of 220 million cubic meters in volume, granting a significant income boost to farmers engaged in agricultural production.
In line with the decision made by the Diyarbakir Drought Crisis Coordination Center, water was transferred from Devegeçidi Dam by the State Hydraulic Works (DSI) to prevent water flow that could have inflicted harm upon farmers.
It is noteworthy that the dam was on the brink of drying up in 2021 and 2022 due to climate change, lack of precipitation and evaporation. According to data from the 10th Regional Directorate DSI, water in the dam, which fell below 1% at the beginning of October last year, reached 65% as of April 25 with snowfall and precipitation in March.
In the last two years, water volume totaling 27 million cubic meters was transferred to Dicle Dam, which is an important food source and spawning area for migratory birds. The dam is also a popular spot for freshwater fishing and serves as a lifeline for both natural life and agricultural production.
"The stored water will meet the irrigation needs of our farmers throughout the year," said Mehmet Yaşar Ceylan, 10th Regional Directorate Operations and Maintenance Branch Manager DSI.
Ceylan told Anadolu Agency (AA) that due to the drought in the last two years, enough water did not accumulate in the dam. However, this year, flow to the dam has been sufficient and harnessed wisely to meet the irrigation needs of farmers throughout the year. In fact, it is expected that the water level in the dam could increase further with the ongoing precipitation.
Süleyman Iskenderoğlu, president of the Yenişehir Chamber of Agriculture, said that they faced a serious drought in the region until the beginning of March this year, but this month, the region received more-than-anticipated precipitation, which seemed to have boosted water storage capacity for the next two years.
"As far as the drought is concerned, we do not know what will happen next year, but we surely will conserve and save existing water in the dam. For this, we even changed our production patterns. Currently, we are planting cotton and corn varieties that require less water. Last year, we experienced a huge loss of yield due to sudden droughts," explained Iskenderoğlu.
Farmer Mustafa Tayfur in the Dokuzçeltik district of Yenişehir district said: "Thanks to the rain, I planted 180 decares of wheat this year and will plant 80 decares of cotton as these crops are easy to irrigate. Last year, I got 400 kilograms (800 pounds) of cotton per decare; however, I am expecting a yield of over 500 kilograms per hectare of cotton this year."
Though home to an array of climates, Türkiye is mostly a semi-arid country. This is especially risky in the era of climate change for agricultural lands concentrated in Anatolia that are far from the mild climate of the country's western regions. It juggles its response to weather-related issues aggravated by the climate crisis, from floods in coastal areas to aggressive droughts in inner regions. An increasingly arid future awaits Türkiye if it does not regulate water consumption soon and runs the risk of being classified as a water-scarce country by 2030, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Türkiye warned last year.
