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Posted on 05/02/2007 6:13:22 PM PDT by SandRat
LSA ADDER — The U.S. military continued progress in a program to provide generators at pump stations along the Euphrates River to irrigate water to local farmlands in southern Iraq Tuesday. The 134th Brigade Support Battalion along with local contractors dredged existing irrigation canals to local farms up to 15 kilometers away from the Euphrates River.
The generators will greatly improve agriculture in the area, said Sheikh Mohammed Tayeh, a representative of the council of Batha, Iraq.
“It was really barren,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Todd M. Engebreston , a vehicle commander of the134th BSB. “When we first got here, it was a pretty desolate area.”
However, Soldiers have started to see a difference in the area as a result of the dredging of sentiment along the Euphrates River after more than 300 kilometers of irrigation canals were created in December.
As a result of the program’s progress, the local population surrounding areas of construction have provided information on the whereabouts of insurgents and their activities within the areas.
According to Engebreston, residents have shown their appreciation by uncovering IEDs and driving off insurgents suspected of planning to shell Logistical Support Area Adder.
“If you don’t have the trust of the civilian population, you really don’t have a good base defense,” said Engebreston.
Not only have residents aided Coalition forces with intelligence, they’ve also helped plan the construction of the irrigation system, said U.S. Army Maj. Paul R. Peterson, a civil military operations personnel officer.
“Without their help and guidance, it would have been very difficult to complete this project,” he said.
As the local populace continued to help, the residents focused on the irrigation project to improve the economic base throughout the area around Bathra and Nasiriyah, Iraq, to give them a steady income, said Peterson.
Currently, the three hours of electrical power available each day does not allow the water from the river to reach all the farms, said Tayeh.
Up to 22 generators are planned to pump the water from the canals to help cut agricultural unemployment rates.
“They can provide for their family and no longer have to worry about being unemployed,” said Peterson.
Additional water will mean a second growing season, a greater variety of crops and provide an opportunity for residents who left the farmlands to move back home, he said.
As the project is expected to be completed within a month, the 134th BSB is currently working with government officials in Dhiqar Province to form a committee to monitor the installation and maintenance of the generators.
Civil projects throughout Iraq are expected to take hold as security takes footing in key areas.
(U.S. Army story by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte, 210th MPAD)
In other developments throughout Iraq:
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