Leaders from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team and the Mada’in Qada study maps of the qada with Ahmed Lilo, (center), the Iraqi director general of water resources during a meeting in al Wahida March 7. The group discussed ways to improve water production in the qada. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf. Div.)Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq
The director general, Ahmed Lilo, spoke with Muhsen Nasser Al-Rubay', mayor of the Mada’in Qada; Col. Ryan L. Kuhn, from Clarks, Neb., deputy commander of 3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf. Div., Lt. Col. Todd Ratliff, from Toledo, Ohio, commander of 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion; and local officials about methods to increase production of the three main pump stations in the qada.
During the meeting, Lilo promised civic leaders he would help the qada by sending 36,000 more liters of heavy fuel to power generators at the pump stations. He also stated he would talk with the Ministry of Electricity to get more power to the pump stations and help repair pumps at the Sabbah Nine Pump Station.
All these measures are important to increase water output of the qada, Carlisle said. The meeting was an important step in connecting the Mada’in Qada with the government of Iraq, he said.
Following the meeting, Lilo and Kuhn boarded a UH 60 Black Hawk helicopter to survey each pump station from the air.
“The entire time we have been here, the 3rd HBCT has concentrated on restoring irrigation and drinking water here in the Mada’in Qada,” said Maj. James Carlisle, from West Palm Beach, Fla., civil affairs officer for 3rd HBCT. “We’ve spent a lot of time helping repair the infrastructure here. Now that we have restored much of the infrastructure, we are ready for the Government of Iraq to reassume its role managing and maintaining the distribution of water throughout the qada.”
The 3rd BSTB is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March 2007.
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