Euphrates Lake

English Wikipedia gives a maximum capacity of 11.7 km³ but states two different maximum surface areas (525 km² and 610 km²); the actual capacity is much lower at 9.6 km³, with a surface area of 447 km². Arabic Wikipedia gives a maximum capacity of 14.1 km³.

The western shore has developed into an important marshland; on the south-eastern shore, areas have been reforested with evergreen trees including Aleppo pine and Euphrates poplar. The lake is an important wintering site for migratory birds; before 2004 the government protected parts of the shore from hunters by downgrading access roads. The island of Jazirat al-Thawra is a nature reserve.[1][3]

The first plans for a dam on the Syrian Euphrates date to 1927. In 1957 Syria agreed technical and financial aid with the Soviet Union, followed in 1960 by a financing agreement with West Germany and in 1965 by another with the Soviet Union. The dam was built between 1968 and 1973; flooding of the reservoir began in 1974 by reducing the river's flow. The project was completed under President Hafez al-Assad as part of his modernisation policies and agricultural reforms. In 1975 Iraq complained that the flow had fallen below an acceptable level and threatened to bomb the dam; mediation by Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union settled the dispute.

Before the flooding, an international programme of rescue excavations ran from 1963 to 1974 at sites ranging from the Late Natufian to the Ottoman period, including Tell Abu Hureyra, Emar, Habuba Kabira, Mureybet, Tell es-Sweyhat, Tell Fray and Dibsi Faraj. Qal'at Ja'bar, whose hilltop became an island, received a protective glacis, and two minarets at Mureybet and Meskene were moved out of the flood zone.

During the civil war the water level dropped significantly, possibly because the power station drew more water than the Euphrates supplied. In May 2026, according to English Wikipedia, the level reached 97%, a height not seen for decades, causing flooding downstream in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor governorates.[1][2]

The scheme was meant to irrigate 640,000 hectares on both banks. Gypsum-rich soils, salinisation, collapsing canals and farmers' reluctance to resettle meant that only 60,000 hectares were irrigated in 1984; by 2000 the figure had risen to 124,000 hectares, 19% of the plan. A pipeline supplies Aleppo with 80 million m³ of drinking water a year from the lake.[1][2]