[ti:Iraq’s Lake Sawa Dries Up Signaling Water Shortage] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]This year, for the first time in its long history, Iraq's Lake Sawa dried up. [00:09.28]"This lake was known as the pearl of the south," said 35-year-old al-Aqouli, [00:17.20]who lives in Samawa, near the lake. [00:21.28]"Now it is our tragedy." [00:24.24]A combination of bad ownership by local investors, [00:29.36]government neglect and climate change has turned Lake Sawa into a salty, flat area. [00:40.08]The loss of Lake Sawa is only the latest addition to Iraq's water shortage. [00:47.84]Experts say it is caused by climate change. [00:51.93]Iraq has had drought and record low rainfall for years. [00:58.32]The importance of water is driving up competition among businessmen and farmers. [01:05.72]The poorest Iraqis are affected the most by the disaster. [01:11.96]The narrow stretch of farmland along the Euphrates River is surrounded by desert. [01:19.40]The area was ignored by the government starting in the 1980s. [01:25.60]Locals call the area surrounding Lake Sawa "atshan" — meaning "thirsty" in Arabic. [01:34.04]Formed over rock, the lake has no path for water to move in or out. [01:41.52]For a long time, nobody knew where the Lake's water came from. [01:46.69]Locals tell stories about how the water came to be in the lake. [01:53.16]It is now known that the water comes from underground [01:57.33]through a system of holes and breaks in rock. [02:01.52]Rain from nearby valleys also feeds into the lake. [02:06.48]Lots of rain can cause flooding. [02:10.18]The lake sits five meters above sea level. It is about 1.8 kilometers long. [02:19.36]Laith Ali al-Obeidi is an environmental activist in southern Iraq. [02:26.80]"The degradation of the water began over 10 years ago, [02:30.91]but this summer was the first time we lost the entire wetland," he said. [02:39.00]Experts said the lake has not dried up permanently. [02:43.27]They say its disappearance this year is because of thousands of illegal wells. [02:51.64]Businessmen in nearby factories dig the wells because they cannot get enough water. [02:59.88]Some water began to come back into the lake by early June. [03:04.51]That was when the harvest season ended, meaning farmers did not need as much water. [03:12.40]Aoun Diab is an adviser to the Water Resources Ministry. [03:17.80]He said that closing illegal wells would have helped heal Lake Sawa. [03:25.00]These would directly affect the economic interests of local officials. [03:31.40]The problem is not only affecting humans, but other animals as well. [03:38.48]Lake Sawa is a complex ecosystem. [03:43.40]Sawa was filled with fish that were food for different kinds of birds. [03:49.48]When the lake dried up, the fish died. [03:52.59]Now the birds will have to find other food. [03:56.57]Lake Sawa is "a case study for climate change in Iraq," al-Obeidi said. "This is the future." [04:08.24]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM