Earthquake damage to dams compounds the woes of farmers

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Alperin Karakoz – Ankara

The earthquake damage at Kartalkaya Dam in the quake-stricken southern region has intensified farmers’ struggles, exacerbating their already difficult conditions.

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The dam, which feeds an agricultural plain spanning more than 200,000 dunams of land and is a source of income for thousands, suffered cracks at its peak following the earthquake, according to the Deputy Chief of State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), who informed the cabinet. Parliament’s Earthquake Investigation Committee.

As a precaution, the dam’s storage rate has been kept low at around 45 percent, and is now even lower. However, this has raised concerns among farmers.

“If the dam continues to remain at these levels, the situation could worsen to the point of losing total crops because growing maize, a prominent crop in the region, becomes impractical under these conditions,” said Sim Baba Ifrane, a farmer. In the Pazardzhik district, the epicenter. “Moreover, other crops such as cotton, soybeans, and sunflowers, which require less water, are also limited in their yield potential due to lower water availability.”

Ifran emphasized the need for at least two or three irrigation cycles per year for these crops, which is currently far from being achieved.

He added that the lack of an alternative dam in the area forced some villagers to resort to digging wells in their gardens to access groundwater.

The plight was compounded by the region’s long struggle with drought, a problem that has plagued not only the quake-hit regions but also other parts of Turkey for a while. As rainfall levels rise again, farmers find themselves unable to make use of the water.

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The construction tender for the reconstruction of the dam, which includes the removal of the damaged part, has been launched, and the contract is expected to be signed within a week, Kazım Doğru, DSİ’s Regional Director, informed. But he added that it would take more than two months for the dam to regain its full operational capacity.

As a result, many farmers in the area have left their fields fallow or have shifted to chickpea cultivation due to the limited availability of water.

“Only 2,000 dunams out of the 25,000 dunams of irrigated agricultural land in Nesedoganli neighborhood have been cultivated,” said Mayor Ahmet Oras, stressing the great damage caused to farmers.

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Oras emphasized the crucial role of the dam in meeting the water needs of Gaziantep, and expressed the impossibility of maintaining agriculture under the current conditions.

agriculture,

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