Iraqi Villages Benefit from Army Engineers' Mission

By Lana Aziz
Gulf Region North,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq

ERBIL PROVINCE, Iraq, April 24, 2007 — More than 26,000 residents in 13 villages receive potable water now due to 13 water well projects recently completed as part of the Iraq Reconstruction Program.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began the well project initiative last year and completed it last month. These 13 villages in Northern Iraq did not have flowing water.

Now, another source of water has been found and tapped in this area. Each one of these 13 projects consisted of construction of deep water wells; supply of generators and submersible pumps; constructing a concrete and steel water tank; supplying and installing the water pipe line; construction of water taps; and expansion of the distribution system.

“Kurdistan is suffering from a shortage of clean water and lack of water sources and water pipe,” said Younis Talib, an Iraqi electrical engineer employed in the USACE Gulf Region North’s Erbil Resident Office. Talib was responsible for quality assurance and quality control on the project. “This project is one of many that are essential to solve water problems in the Erbil Province; designed to stabilize the water source in 13 villages.”

(Photo: Children in Northern Iraq in the Erbil Province play with a water hose, thanks to local water well and pump station projects made possible through the Iraq Reconstruction Program, April 22, 2007. U.S. Army photo)

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