The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources recently hosted two AWP Partners during a visit to Baghdad, where Iraqi Government officials learnt about various aspects of Australian water industry practice.

Alan Thornton of Hunter H2O and consultant Campbell Fitzpatrick met with the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, His Excellency Dr Hassan Janabi, and dozens of other Government personnel during their visit on 13-19 February.

Thornton and Fitzpatrick are specialists in urban water asset management, basin management, dams management and modelling—all identified by the Iraqi Minister as current water priorities for the nation. Interactive workshops were held on six specific topics of interest: asset management, dam safety and management, geographical information systems (GIS), hydraulic modelling, and planning.

Approximately 100 staff from the Iraqi Ministry attended the opening session, comprising a contextual overview of water management in Australia and a presentation on the complex trans-boundary water sharing issues occurring between Iraq and neighbouring countries.

This initial meeting was also an opportunity to scope how Australia may support Iraq in advancing its water and asset management capacity and expertise.

As a next step, AWP will explore the opportunity to support a small Iraqi delegation to travel to Australia, where they will visit different water utilities to observe asset management regimes being applied in practice, and participate in a short training program on the application of software that meets the needs of the Iraqi Ministry.