AI-Assisted 'Smart Dam' Pilot for Water-Flow Monitoring on Iraq's Kufa and Al-Abbasiya Regulators

On 24 June 2025, Diaa Al-Jumaili, the Iraqi Prime Minister's Advisor for Artificial Intelligence, announced that Iraq had begun trialling AI-based 'smart dam' technology at the Kufa and Al-Abbasiya water regulators in Najaf Governorate, with a further large-scale smart dam planned for Basra. The stated purpose is to let AI systems detect the quantity and quality of water inflow and outflow and anticipate flood risk in real time, amid Iraq's water reserves reportedly reaching an 80-year low in 2025. Al-Jumaili explicitly described the project as operating 'at small scale' as a trial, framing it as a first step toward eventually managing the Tigris, Euphrates, and Shatt al-Arab as a connected reservoir system.

The pilot sits within a broader push endorsed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani at the 5th Baghdad International Water Conference in May 2025, where he referenced 'automated dam and water storage management' as part of a regional 'Our Water… Our Future' water initiative, and within Iraq's wider national AI strategy (INSAIN 2024–2030).

No performance metrics, budget figures, implementing ministry beyond the Prime Minister's Advisory Office, or completion date have been published as of mid-2026. This is an announced, small-scale government AI pilot, not a deployed and evaluated system, and should be read as a case worth tracking rather than a proven success.

Read the full analysis: https://en.shafaqna.com/414058/new-mechanism-by-iraq-for-utilizing-artificial-intelligence-in-water-dams