Syria's Energy Ministry on Sunday warned residents of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor governorates against approaching or swimming in the Euphrates riverbed after water levels rose and the current strengthened as releases from the Euphrates dams were increased to 1,200 cubic metres per second from 22 September, amid increased inflows from Türkiye.
In a statement, the ministry said water releases would remain at their current level, stressing that "the release rate will not be increased above 1,200 cubic metres per second until the end of October, according to current data". It renewed its call for residents to "exercise caution, avoid approaching or swimming in the river, and move irrigation equipment and pumps located near its banks to safe places".
Higher water releases to accommodate inflows from Türkiye
The ministry said the increased releases were intended to manage the continued rise in water inflows from Türkiye, while also creating greater storage capacity at the Euphrates Dam to accommodate the quantities expected to arrive during winter. On 15 September, the ministry announced that it had opened spillway gate No. 6 at the Euphrates Dam and increased released water volumes to 1,100 cubic metres per second.
It said at the time that the rate would rise to 1,200 cubic metres per second a week later, as part of the gradual management of water inflows from Türkiye. The new measures follow widespread flooding in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor governorates last May.
May floods prompted dam gates to open
The river level rose at the time after large flows arrived from Türkiye alongside local rainfall, prompting the Euphrates Dam administration to open three gates at the dam's spillway to control water levels, for the first time since 1988.
As part of preparations for the next two seasons, Haytham Bakour, director of the General Euphrates Dam Establishment, said the institution was currently working to release about 6 million cubic metres from the storage volume in the Euphrates lakes, with the aim of improving the dams' readiness to accommodate any incoming flows as autumn and winter approach. Bakour said the plan aimed to achieve full readiness and capacity by the end of December to accommodate rainfall or water resulting from snowmelt arriving from Türkiye.
He added that the work relied on monitoring satellite imagery and climate forecasts, as well as tracking storage levels in Turkish dams. The institution's director said there was a central operations room and three subsidiary operations rooms distributed among the three dams, in addition to monitoring points responsible for tracking incoming and released water volumes and storage levels.
He stressed that data produced by monitoring operations was reviewed daily. According to Bakour, the institution collects and analyses data on flows and storage, while the Ministry of Emergency Affairs and operations rooms in the governorates are responsible for early warning in local communities. This includes relaying alerts and warnings to residents living along the riverbanks, in coordination with local administrations.
