Tigris River, Mosul Dam, Iraq (from Zawa Mountain). September 2018
So close, so far
In my two years in Duhok I lived less than one hour from Mosul, formerly Iraq's second-city. I never visited. The semi-autonomous Kurdish region controlled its own borders within Iraq so my visa was only valid within that area. Mosul was in "real Iraq". Previously, the airport there was the largest in the region and I would have flown in and out of there going to Duhok. After the conflict in Iraq subsided and the Kurds got more control of their region, the main airport shifted to Erbil, Kurdistan and the bombed up airport in Mosul was left in disrepair. Mosul seemed to be a case study in the "fall" of a major city.
When Mosul was overrun by ISIS, the press portrayed the Iraqi army as being cowardly and throwing down their weapons to what was a small group of well-armed marauders. It was more complicated. The Iraqi Army had not been getting its salary regularly for some time and when a major skirmish with ISIS seemed imminent, a lot of them just said "I am not getting paid to do this" and simply left. There also existed some faint hope that the Kurdish Peshmerga (Kurdish army) could somehow handle the situation, but since Mosul was not really IN the Kurdish region, they were more interested in holding their present territory than than expanding it by repelling ISIS. In the end, Mosul fell without much resistance. A lot of the large Kurdish population fled to Duhok and the nearby Christian towns emptied out and sought refuge there, too (like my friend WMF).
The retaking of Mosul almost completely destroyed the city, even its oldest quarters. This was a loss to Iraq and the world. Mosul city has been inhabited for millenia. The ancient ruins of Nineveh on the outskirts were damaged as well. However, what was NOT reported much in the press was the issue surrounding Mosul Dam on the Tigris River just upstream from the city. This is the largest reservoir in the Middle East holding back acres of water that is used for irrigation and hydropower. It is also unstable.
In the heady days of Saddam Hussein when Iraq was awash in oil money and he was still considered "reasonable" by the West, he created huge infrastructure projects in Iraq. Many were vainglorious, especially his palaces all over the country. Some, however, were practical. Mosul was a large city in an arid region that needed power and water. Building a big hydro-dam nearby seemed a perfect idea except for one problem - the geology. Engineers and geologists apparently picked an ideal site for the dam and Saddam "disagreed". He insisted it be built in its current location which was geologically unstable. The dam was completed and soon after began to show signs of stress. The Iraqi government looked after it non-stop - think of just pouring cement endlessly into a hole that will never be filled. Then the Americans took over the job and finally the EU assumed responsibility. The dam that should never have been built was a ticking time bomb.
After ISIS took the city, there was a constant worry they would kick out the EU minders and let the dam fail on purpose. It would have created a wall of water utterly destroying Mosul and flooding most of Baghdad in a couple of meters of water. It was (and is) a real concern. The maintenance of the dam fortunately never stopped. I am not sure if even ISIS was foolish enough to mess with something of that magnitude or they simply didn't want to take over the huge financial burden to keep up the dam. After all, ISIS had an interest in an intact Mosul with electricity and water, too.
Mosul was retaken and destroyed in the process. The dam's future was less in jeopardy and the endless concrete continues to flow. To correct the problem the entire dam must be rebuilt in a different location. Given that the region needs uninterrupted water and power, that will not happen any time soon. However, eventually someone will get tired of the endless job of maintaining "the dam that should have never been built". The cost of maintenance alone must be staggering.
Meanwhile, from Zawa Mountain [see: Zawa Mountain], the views over the Mosul Dam reservoir at sunset are very appealing. Some of my students' families have built waterside villas along the reservoir's edge as well. For now, an odd kind of truce exists with the dam. For now.
NB: I learned about this from a student-written report!! I had to do follow up research and found the topic fascinating. I recalled the concerns about the dam when Mosul fell to ISIS, but the details had never been reported. Scary but amazing stuff!