Jamil al-Juburi, 53, has never left his village in northern Iraq, where his family has worked the land for generations — but a dam will soon swallow his home, forcing them out. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are threatened by the Makhoul dam, which the government hopes will be operational on the mighty Tigris in five years. “I was born here and I grew up here,” said Juburi, whose village of Al-Messahag is set in pasture land on the banks of the river. “It’s difficult to leave for somewhere else. It is a whole past that we leave behind us.” Once the dam is erected, Juburi’s whole region will be under three billion cubic metres (105 billion cubic feet) of water. In a country highly vulnerable to climate change — and buffeted by three consecutive years of drought — authorities have defended the project, which will boost water stores and help prevent shortages. However, activists decry the impact on more than 30 villages — home to about 118,000 people — and the threats to biodiversity and archaeological sites. Employed at a state-run oil refinery, Juburi leaves his sons to work the family land, where they plant wheat and citrus trees.