GAP project

• Turkey's water budget:

  • Input total of 643mm / year of rainfall (average)
  • 55% lost through evaporation
  • Only 16% is useable
• Other:

  • Construct 22 dams, 19 are HEP + 2 water transfer schemes
• Other:

  • Provide irrigation for 1.7m hectares of land
• Other:

  • Reduce young people leaving the country through improving education and health facilities
• Other:

  • Help local Anatolia economy grow by 400%, national economy to grow by 12%
• Economic impacts:

  • 3,800 GWH of power a year
• Economic impacts:

  • (social as well) Ilisu dam will hold back water during winter floods and release in summer droughts
• Economic impacts:

  • Costs $32b
• Economic impacts:

  • Higher income and better opportunities to a region which needs it
• Social impacts:

  • Upstream of Ilisu will be a new sewage treatment facilities which will improve water quality
• Environmental impacts:

  • 1,000km downstream dam will hold water back from marshes and its inhabitants
• Conflicts:

  • Lower parts of Hasankeyf will be flooded. Archaeologists are working to preserve and excavate - large Kurd population
• Conflicts:

  • 15,000 people will be resettled - 2,000 families
• Conflicts:

  • Iraq accuses Turkey that they'll withold flow of Tigris downstream (passes through region home to Kurds - may get displaced)
• Conflicts:

  • Arab marshland to be deprived from water