Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak attended the “International Conference on Sustainable Water Management: Science, Policy and Practice”, held at Dicle University’s 15 July Culture and Congress Centre. The first day of the conference, which will run from 29 September to 2 October, was attended by Co-Mayor Bucak, DBB Chief Executive Serdar Bakıroğlu, DİSKİ Director General Mehmet Şerifoğlu, Dicle University Rector Prof Dr Kamuran Eronat, representatives of public institutions and organisations, scientists, researchers, 50 participants from 25 countries and numerous other guests.

‘Water Is the Foundation of Life’

The programme began with introductory videos about Diyarbakır and Dicle University. Speaking at the event, Dicle University Rector Prof Dr Kamuran Eronat said they had come together to discuss water, one of the most important issues directly affecting humanity’s future. He said that water is not merely a natural resource but the foundation of food security, agricultural production, economic development, environmental sustainability and, ultimately, life.

Co-Mayor Bucak: These Lands Are Where Civilisations Began

Opening her speech by greeting the conference organising committee and guests, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak expressed her pleasure at coming together to discuss the future of water, the climate crisis and the basins that sustain life. Describing the conference’s taking place in Diyarbakır as particularly meaningful, Co-Mayor Bucak said that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowing through these lands were the starting point of civilisations because they sustained life.

‘We Must Protect Our Water Resources’

Co-Mayor Bucak said that water would be the first and most fundamental issue we need to consider if the civilisations we are part of today are to survive, and continued:

“Just as we must avoid wasting water at an individual level, we must also turn into action our commitment to protecting water resources in our cities, adopting smart water management and recycling wastewater. As Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, since the day we took office, we have placed our vision of an ‘Ecological, Democratic and Women’s-Liberated City’ at the centre of our work. Diyarbakır is a city that bears the traces of dozens of civilisations brought to life by the Tigris River and the Hevsel Gardens. Our historic responsibility is to protect this ancient ecological balance against policies driven by profit and unchecked concrete development.”

‘The Climate Crisis Affects Vulnerable Groups More Severely’

Co-Mayor Bucak recalled that DİSKİ General Directorate was constructing the second phase of the Drinking Water Treatment Plant at the site of the Central Drinking Water Treatment Plant, with an investment of approximately 1 billion Turkish lira, as part of efforts to ensure sustainable water supplies. She said that once completed, the facility would increase the city’s daily drinking water treatment capacity from 260,000 cubic metres to 520,000 cubic metres. Noting that this increase would make the system more resilient to sudden pressures caused by drought and urbanisation, Co-Mayor Bucak continued:

“Secure access to water begins with having sufficient and resilient capacity. Yet however carefully we seek to shape our urban policies, the reality of global climate change is confronting us in all its destructive force. Diyarbakır is among the regions experiencing the impacts of the drought dimension of this crisis most severely. Adapting to climate change requires cooperation not only at local level but also at national and global level. We are continuing our work without interruption in this direction. Because as local government leaders, we know that the climate crisis does not affect everyone equally. Drought and water scarcity hit low-income urban communities, small-scale farmers, women and vulnerable groups in society hardest. That is why, for us, water management is not simply a technical infrastructure service; it is directly a matter of ‘Water Justice’ and the ‘Right to the City’.”

Co-Mayor Bucak said that the scientific findings, roadmaps and policy recommendations to emerge from the conference would help guide their work as local government practitioners, adding that it would be the responsibility of local government leaders to incorporate the scientific data produced into their policies and practices.

Co-Mayor Bucak concluded her speech by thanking Dicle University, everyone involved in organising the conference, all the scientists and all the guests who travelled to Diyarbakır from abroad to contribute to the conference.