The Risk of PFAS in Iraq’s Groundwater Amid Drought: Insights from Asia-Pacific Experiences

Because of the ongoing drought, many people in Iraq have no choice but to consume groundwater without realizing the potential risks of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are a growing global concern due to their persistence in the environment and potential health risks. While many countries are still catching up in addressing PFAS pollution, several Asian countries are taking concrete steps to monitor, regulate, and reduce PFAS in the environment. Asia-Pacific countries are increasingly addressing PFAS ("forever chemicals") through regulations mainly aligned with the Stockholm Convention, which restricts certain PFAS substances such as PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS. Key points include:

1- China, Japan, and South Korea have adopted restrictions on PFAS listed in the Stockholm Convention. China is enhancing broader chemical regulations, including a 2023 List of New Pollutants for Priority Management [1].

2- Japan has been proactive, since 2009, PFOS is regulated as a Class I Specified Chemical Substance, with export restrictions. In 2020, Japan set a drinking water target of 50 ng/L for PFOS and PFOA and banned their manufacture and use [7].

3- Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have documented widespread PFAS contamination in water, soil, and biota, with ongoing concerns about human and ecosystem health. However, regulatory frameworks remain weak or poorly enforced in many of these countries [5][6].

In Iraq, PFAS pollution is not yet a visible part of water management strategies, and current efforts are limited to occasional workshops for university staff. However, with ongoing drought and increasing reliance on untreated groundwater in urban peripheries, the risk of PFAS contamination in drinking water will only grow. Early action is essential. Drawing from Asia’s experiences, Iraq can consider:
1- Establishing a national PFAS monitoring program, starting with pilot studies in industrial and military areas.
2- Developing laboratory capacity and training for PFAS testing using GC-MS instruments.
3- Including PFAS in national water quality and environmental protection regulations.
4- Collaborating with regional and international partners to develop cost-effective removal and monitoring methods.

Reference

[1] https://www.idtechex.com/en/research-article/new-regulations-targeting-…
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121004163
[3] https://ipen.org/documents/pfas-pollution-across-middle-east-and-asia
[4] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352801X23000474
[5] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/toxicology/articles/10.3389/ftox.2…
[6] https://ipen.org/news/pfas-situation-reports-twelve-middle-eastern-and-…
[7] https://int.anteagroup.com/news-and-media/blog/pfas-regulation-around-t…
[8] https://www.3eco.com/article/2025-asia-pacific-regulatory-landscape-3e/
[9] https://landandgroundwater.com/global-pfas-regulatory-developments/

📢 Unveiling a new bilingual site www.land-irg.org for the UNCCD Interregional Group Central Asia-Russia on drought, land degradation and desertification. Join us for the online launch on Tuesday 8 July @ 10 am CEST.

📢 Представляем новый двуязычный портал www.land-irg.org Межрегиональной группы «Центральная Азия–Россия» КБО ООН по вопросам засухи, деградации земель и опустынивания. Присоединяйтесь к онлайн-запуску во вторник, 8 июля, в 10:00

Spain, Morocco and Türkiye: Mediterranean countries ‘canaries in coal mine’ for drought impacts

Website link: https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/07/05/spain-morocco-and-turkiye-med…

By Euronews Green
Published on 05/07/2025 - 10:02 GMT+2

Drought is not just a weather event - it can be a social, economic, and environmental emergency, experts explain after a landmark survey.
“Girls pulled from school and forced into marriage, hospitals going dark, and families digging holes in dry riverbeds just to find contaminated water - these are signs of severe crisis," says Paula Guastello, drought impacts researcher at the US National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC).

Together with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the US centre has just finished surveying global droughts between 2023 to 2025. They found that some of the most widespread and damaging droughts in recorded history have hit during the last two years.

Their new report gathers information from hundreds of government, scientific and media sources to highlight the most acute drought hotspots around the world, including in the Mediterranean.

Around 35 per cent of the EU and UK fell under a form of drought warning in early June, according to the latest official data, following a record-breaking hot spring driven by climate change. Alert conditions are intensifying in large areas of Ukraine, in some parts of Türkiye, as well as in the UK, Poland, Cyprus, Greece, and the south-eastern Balkans.

“Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its scars run deep,” says UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.

Where are Europe's drought hotspots?
Spain, Morocco and Türkiye are bearing the brunt of drought in the Mediterranean, the report confirms.

Water shortages have hit Spain’s agriculture and tourism sectors hard in recent years. By September 2023, two years of drought and record heat led to a 50 per cent drop in Spain’s olive crop, causing its olive oil prices to double across the country.

Meanwhile, in Türkiye, drought has accelerated groundwater depletion, triggering sinkholes that endanger local residents and their infrastructure. It also permanently reduces aquifer storage capacity.

“The Mediterranean countries represent canaries in the coal mine for all modern economies,” says Dr Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC director.

“The struggles experienced by Spain, Morocco and Türkiye to secure water, food, and energy under persistent drought offer a preview of water futures under unchecked global warming. No country, regardless of wealth or capacity, can afford to be complacent.”

Far from being “a dry spell”, Dr Svoboda adds, “This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I've ever seen.”

Why drought is ‘not just a weather event’
Given the way drought compounds poverty, hunger and energy insecurity, the most devastating hotspots are found outside of Europe, in some of the world’s poorest countries.
More than 90 million people across Eastern and Southern Africa face acute hunger, according to the report, where some areas have been enduring their worst-ever recorded drought.

In Somalia, the government estimated that 43,000 people died in 2022 alone due to drought-linked hunger.

Zambia suffered one of the world's worst energy crises in April 2024 as the Zambezi River plummeted to levels that are 20 per cent of its long-term average. The country’s largest hydroelectric plant, the Kariba Dam, fell to 7 per cent generation capacity, causing blackouts of up to 21 hours per day, forcing hospitals, bakeries, and factories to close.

“Drought is not just a weather event - it can be a social, economic, and environmental emergency,” stresses report co-author Dr Kelly Helm Smith, NDMC assistant director and drought impacts researcher.

In Eastern Africa, forced child marriages more than doubled as families sought dowries to survive. Though outlawed in Ethiopia, child marriages more than doubled in frequency in the four regions hit hardest by the drought.

Across the world in the Amazon, the drought upended life for remote Indigenous and rural communities. In some areas, the river fell to its lowest level ever recorded, leaving residents stranded - including women giving birth - and entire towns without drinking water.

It is a common theme that drought takes a disproportionate toll on women and children.

“The coping mechanisms we saw during this drought grew increasingly desperate,” says Guastello.

Climate change and El Nino are creating ‘perfect storm’
Between 2023 to 2024, an El Niño climate phenomenon amplified already harsh climate change impacts, the researchers explain, triggering dry conditions across major agricultural and ecological zones.
“This was a perfect storm,” says report co-author Dr Smith. “El Niño added fuel to the fire of climate change, compounding the effects for many vulnerable societies and ecosystems past their limits.”

The report makes several recommendations to alleviate the impact of droughts, including: stronger early warning systems to save lives; nature-based solutions like watershed restoration; off-grid energy infrastructure; and gender responsive adaptation.

“The nations of the world have the resources and the knowledge to prevent a lot of suffering,” Dr Smith adds. “The question is, do we have the will?”

This news piece mentioned that the fantastic piece 'Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023-2025' is now available! This is a great news!

Dear All,

I am pleased to share my paper published in NHESS Journal (An evaluation of the alignment of drought policy and planning guidelines with the contemporary disaster risk reduction agenda, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2155–2178, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2155-2025, 2025)! You can freely download the paper at the journal website: https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/25/2155/2025/

This study evaluates 12 sets of drought policy and planning guidelines for their alignment with the four priority areas of the SENDAI framework. The guidelines do not align very well with the contemporary disaster risk reduction agenda. The study highlights strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and provides useful insights to develop the next generation of drought guidelines that are better aligned with contemporary science–policy–practice agendas.

Hopefully this work will contribute to supporting the accelerated transition towards improved drought risk reduction and management and building the resilience of societies and ecosystems to droughts under changing climate and increasing anthropogenic pressures.

I am happy to discuss this work if you have any questions or would like to collaborate.

Kind regards,
Ilyas Masih

How is the drought situation in your country?

Sharing from Bosnia and Herzegovina:
In Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the last recorded rainfall was on May 29th (21 mm) — since then, we’ve had zero precipitation throughout June. This is unprecedented: looking at historical data (Sarajevo-Bjelave, 1949–2024), we have never had a June without any rainfall. The average for June is 88 mm, and even in the driest year (2012), there were still 12 mm.

Similar reports are coming from Serbia, where June was extremely dry, pushing concerns beyond meteorological and hydrological droughts to very clear socio-economic impacts due to expected yield reductions.
This raises important questions for our region:

- How is the situation developing in your countries?
- Are you seeing comparable rainfall deficits and stress on agriculture?
- How are your institutions responding — any new emergency measures, or acceleration of drought adaptation plans?

I would also like to thank my colleague Dr. Ana Vuković Vimić for raising and framing this issue so clearly in our recent discussions; it truly deserves more regional and global attention.
As a region, we often go under the radar in global drought assessments, yet it’s clear that Central and Eastern Europe is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Perhaps this is the right time to strengthen our regional voice and ensure we’re recognized as a drought-prone area in global adaptation dialogues.

Looking forward to hearing your experiences, data and thoughts — let’s exchange and maybe even lay foundations for stronger regional cooperation on drought risk reduction!

Hi everyone, my name is Sara Riade, and I’m currently working as a consultant with the UNCCD in the Global Policy Advocacy and Regional Cooperation (GPARC) Unit. I’ll be helping manage the CLP page and supporting community engagement.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any guidance or support navigating the platform — I’m more than happy to help!
Looking forward to connecting with you all.

Hi everyone, my name is Sara Riade, and I’m currently working as a consultant with the UNCCD in the Global Policy Advocacy and Regional Cooperation (GPARC) Unit. I’ll be helping manage the CLP page and supporting community engagement.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any guidance or support navigating the platform — I’m more than happy to help!
Looking forward to connecting with you all.

Hi everyone, my name is Sara Riade, and I’m currently working as a consultant with the UNCCD in the Global Policy Advocacy and Regional Cooperation (GPARC) Unit. I’ll be helping manage the CLP page and supporting community engagement.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any guidance or support navigating the platform — I’m more than happy to help!
Looking forward to connecting with you all.

Please join me in watching the exclusive short film Drought in Chile, available here:
🎥 Watch the film: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sor1c98kkcmsfb5m3xvkj/Drought-in-Chile-U…

This compelling documentary explores the severe impacts of drought in Chile — from water scarcity and devastating wildfires to the lived experiences of rural communities and frontline responders.

It features voices from affected regions, national focal points, and experts, and highlights the urgent need for climate action, ecological restoration, and equitable water governance.

A powerful reminder that drought is not only a climate crisis — but also a social and human one.

Why Groundwater Protection Should Be a National Priority in Drought Strategies

A recent study in Nature Sustainability (2025) on the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna Delta found that unsustainable groundwater-fed irrigation during dry seasons reduces flood risks but increases surface freshwater scarcity and saltwater intrusion in coastal regions.

While heavy groundwater pumping supports dry-season agriculture and leads to higher aquifer recharge during monsoon seasons, this recharge is insufficient to offset depletion, creating a vicious cycle:

🔹 Groundwater depletion ➡️ reduced surface runoff ➡️ less surface water for farming ➡️ increased groundwater dependence.

💧 This means that although groundwater use may temporarily reduce flood risk, it undermines long-term water security and resilience to drought.

Key takeaways for drought management:
✅ Groundwater protection must be a clear priority in national drought strategies, rather than a resource to exhaust during crises.
✅ Integrated management of surface and groundwater resources is essential for resilience.
✅ Farmers need support to improve water-use efficiency and adopt practices that reduce dependency on excessive groundwater pumping.
✅ Expansion of agriculture in coastal deltas must consider sustainable recharge strategies to prevent seawater intrusion and further freshwater scarcity.

🌍 These findings are globally relevant, as human pressures and climate change increasingly threaten freshwater systems in coastal and deltaic regions.

✍️ How can countries balance food security with groundwater conservation in drought management plans? Let’s exchange experiences and lessons to strengthen our collective drought resilience.

📖 The link of study:
👉 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-025-01566-0

#DroughtManagement #Groundwater #NatureSustainability #WaterSecurity #UNCCD #CLP

Combating Desertification in Africa : Zainer’s Contribution to SDG 15 (Life on Land)

Zainer is a low-cost machine for climate resilient agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions.

The Zainer is a vertical soil drill, mounted on a two wheeled cart and powered by a small 5hp petrol engine. Excavated soil is deposited on the down-stream side of the Zaï pit to make sure that run-off water from the field is directed into the pit for local infiltration. The design of the Zainer has been optimized for fuel efficiency and drilling speed to minimize the operational costs for the farmer.
Operating the Zainer can be comfortably done by both female and male farmers. Depending on the soil conditions, farmers are able to produce up to 17 Zaï plantholes per minute and 1 ha of land can be prepared within 5 days (compared to 300 hours of labor for manual Zaï). The drill bit can easily be replaced and be adapted to different soil conditions and desired plant hole dimensions.
Due to climate change, rainfall patterns in Africa have become less predictable. As a result, African farmers are experiencing production losses for their main rainfed crops. This climate instability, combined with increasing land degradation linked to desertification, poses a serious risk to food security and family incomes, particularly for smallholder farmers.
Indigenous conservation and regenerative agriculture practices can largely mitigate these risks and help combat desertification, but farmers consider these traditional practices too labor-intensive and economically unviable.
Affordable mechanization of climate-smart agricultural practices can overcome these drawbacks. An organization called Practica has therefore initiated the development of a simple tool to quickly and inexpensively produce small basins or pits for local rainwater retention. This tool is called "Zaïner," in reference to the traditional West African practice of creating small planting holes, called Zaï.
This innovative tool aims to strengthen the resilience of soils and farmers in the face of desertification and climate change.

Combating Desertification in Africa : Zainer’s Contribution to SDG 15 (Life on Land)

Zainer is a low-cost machine for climate resilient agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions.

The Zainer is a vertical soil drill, mounted on a two wheeled cart and powered by a small 5hp petrol engine. Excavated soil is deposited on the down-stream side of the Zaï pit to make sure that run-off water from the field is directed into the pit for local infiltration. The design of the Zainer has been optimized for fuel efficiency and drilling speed to minimize the operational costs for the farmer.
Operating the Zainer can be comfortably done by both female and male farmers. Depending on the soil conditions, farmers are able to produce up to 17 Zaï plantholes per minute and 1 ha of land can be prepared within 5 days (compared to 300 hours of labor for manual Zaï). The drill bit can easily be replaced and be adapted to different soil conditions and desired plant hole dimensions.
Due to climate change, rainfall patterns in Africa have become less predictable. As a result, African farmers are experiencing production losses for their main rainfed crops. This climate instability, combined with increasing land degradation linked to desertification, poses a serious risk to food security and family incomes, particularly for smallholder farmers.
Indigenous conservation and regenerative agriculture practices can largely mitigate these risks and help combat desertification, but farmers consider these traditional practices too labor-intensive and economically unviable.
Affordable mechanization of climate-smart agricultural practices can overcome these drawbacks. An organization called Practica has therefore initiated the development of a simple tool to quickly and inexpensively produce small basins or pits for local rainwater retention. This tool is called "Zaïner," in reference to the traditional West African practice of creating small planting holes, called Zaï.
This innovative tool aims to strengthen the resilience of soils and farmers in the face of desertification and climate change.

I noticed this publication
Drought in Europe April 2025 : GDO analytical report
Toreti, A., Bavera, D., Acosta Navarro, J., Barbosa P, , De Jager, A. et al., Drought in Europe – June 2025 – GDO analytical report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/1544910

The open accessed Abstract is:
Drought conditions are affecting large parts of central, northern, and eastern Europe as well as northern Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Recent above-average temperatures in western Europe have exacerbated the effects of the prolonged lack of precipitation, particularly on soil moisture. Low flow conditions in river discharge are detected mostly in eastern Europe, in the Baltic Sea region, and in some rivers of Türkiye. Impacts on vegetation are emerging in eastern Europe. The already affected areas are mostly in the Mediterranean region. Seasonal forecasts point to a warmer than usual 2025 summer with dry conditions in a very large region extending from the UK to the Black Sea.
An EU link is: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/188cbe48-4dbd-…