As-Saqi, a third river.

The As-Saqi alternative water project is one of the projects that the al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine has given great attention to, as a result of the water scarcity crisis in Iraq. Therefore, serious steps were required to confront this dangerous challenge.

And because the country is experiencing many accumulations that have caused weak management of its water resources, the al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine addressed this issue to start from the holy land of Karbala, specifically from the western desert region of the city, to establish a vital project that will contribute to facing the water crisis and be a third river.

The Head of the Engineering Projects Department at the al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine, Engineer Dea' Majeed Al-Sa'egh, told Al-Kafeel Network: "The establishment of this important project is an addition to the series of service projects, which were completed in the service of the holy city of Karbala in particular, and the governorates of Iraq in general."

He added, "The al-Abbas's (p) Holy Shrine has adopted the As-Saqi alternative water project after it was under study, by the Iraqi Organization for Development and Advancement of the Iraqi Environment, Karbala University and the Ministry of Water Resources since 2014, but the project faced a number of obstacles that prevented its establishment. /thus the Holy Shrine adopted the project and moved forward with its establishment and its entry into action, after extensive studies and research were conducted prior to the start, which led to the exploitation of the natural resources that this land abounds in, including groundwater.”

Al-Sa'egh explained: "The project consists of (55) wells connected by a network of pipes at a distance of (75) km to all wells, while an area of ​​​​10 thousand acres was allocated for the project. The actual launch of the project was in 2016 in its first phase, which is drilling (50) wells with a production capacity of (20) to (30) liters per second for each well, which is equivalent to (1500) liters per second for all wells, while a special program has been developed to monitor and measure water flow movement periodically, in order to determine their quantities. Three wells have been allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources for the purposes of study and scientific research, in order to develop and promote the project."

He concluded: "The project's water, after undergoing laboratory testing, proved its suitability for agriculture, and it can also be used for drinking after being filtered. Also, the project has begun to rely on alternative (solar) energy in the extraction process."