Once a lifeline for Diyala governorate, Lake Hamrin was Iraq’s quiet blue heart — a reservoir that fed farms, cooled summers, and sustained entire communities. But in recent years, its waters have collapsed at an astonishing pace. In 2016 the lake held around 1.8 billion cubic meters of water; by 2021 it had fallen to just about 12 million — a staggering loss of over 98%. Entire bays once filled with shimmering water have turned into cracked, walkable ground. Much like Lake Urmia’s painful retre