WATER RESOURCES OF IRAQ
RAJI i ALI MOUSA
ERCIYESUNIVERSITY-AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND TECLHNOLOGIES-TURCHISH
1- surface water
1.1 River Tigris
River Tigris rises in the southeastern part of Turkey , total length is about 1718 km .
The average river width is 221.1 m and the average depth is 3.9 m (1)
It enters Iraq at Fiesh Khabur where the Khabur tributary joins the main river at a small distance to the south. The mean annual flow of the Khabur is 68 m3/s. The River Tigris flows towards the south and reaches the first major city (Mosul).this discharge at Mosul reaches 630 m3/s.
The Greater Zab River joins the Tigris about 60 km south of Mosul. This tributary is one of the largest with a mean annual flow of 418 m3/s. Further south , the Lesser Zab tributary joins the Tigris at Fatha the mean annual flow of the Tigris reaches 1340 m3/S down-stream of this confluence. South of Fatha, the Adhaim tributary joins the Tigris., the mean annual flow of this river reaches 25.5 km3 the last major tributary, the Diyala River joins the Tigris south of Baghdad The mean daily flow of this tributary is 182 m3/s , the mean annual daily flow of the river falls below its value at Baghdad (1140 m3/S) in Kut and Amara cities at the south.
1.2 River Euphrates
The River Euphrates is the longest River in southwest Asia. Its length reaches 2786 km and rises from the southeastern parts of Turkey and drains an area of about 440000 km2, which is occupied by 23 million inhabitants (2) which it crosses the Iraqi border at Hasaibah , the mean daily discharge of the Euphrates River inside Iraq (at Hit) is 909 m3/s Inside Iraq, . Some of its water is diverted to the Habaniya reservoir during floods, . About 135 km south of Faluja, the Hindiya barrage diverts a maximum discharge of 471.5 m3/s to small parallel tributaries .
The Euphrates channel south of Kifil is divided into two main channels (Kufa and Shamiya), and they joins again at Mushkhab .Further downstream, the channel splits again about 25 km south of Shanafiya and rejoins near Simawa. Then the river enters Hamar marsh, where it forms two main channels within Hamar marsh. One of the channels (northern) joins the Tigris
River at Qurna orming (known as the Shat Alarab River) while the other channel joins the Shat Alarab River at Karmat Ali.
1. 3 River Shat Alarab
This river forms at Qurna where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers join together, and it flows into the gulf .
Its total length is 192 km its annual discharge at FAO is 35.2 km3.Two main tributaries (Suwaib and Karun) join the main course of the river(3 )
The most significant downstream tributary is the Karun River, with a catchment of about 67,000km2, which has a primary impact on the salinity intrusion along the Shatt al-Arab.
1. 4 Dams in Iraq
The first big dam (Dokan) was constructed in 1959 on the Lesser Zab River Storage capacity was 6.8 billion m3. Later, dams were constructed for irrigation and power generation purposes . the Haditha dam is almost of no use now due to the severe depletion of the Euphrates flow . in spite of River Storage capacity was 8.28 billion m3.
Mosul dam was built on highly soluble, fractured and jointed gypsum beds which left this dam at a high risk of collapse but it was Storage capacity 13.5 billion m3 .
Al-Qadisiyah dam, Durandakhan, Al-Azim, Hamrin and Al-Tharthar dams, their storage capacity were 8.2 , 3.7 , 1.5 , 3.9 , 85 billion m3 respectively (4 )
1-5 The rain and Snow Rain cannot be considered a source of water in Iraq, especially in the central and southern regions, which are sedimentary plains suitable for agriculture due to climate changes, drought, desertification and the lack of rainfall each year.
precipitation ranges between more than 100 – to 1000mm, and the majority of the annual precipitation occurs from October to April, the average annual was surfaces evaporation is 1300mm in the north, 2000mm in the center and 2400mm in southern Iraq (it may reach 3000mm per month during July and August(5)
As for the snow, Iraq only receives a small area from it, and this is due to the location of most of the land of Iraq in the lower middle widths, and 95% of the area of Iraq is located at an altitude of less than 300 meters, and this makes the snow fall associated with the high mountainous region, Although snow fell in rare cases on the rest of Iraq (6).
2- Ground water
Only Estimated reserve renewed groundwater in Iraq by about (6.2) billion m3 annually, of which (930) million m3 in the Western Sahara, in terms of exploitation is still limited as Do not exceed the rate of exploitation in this region a little bit (7 )
The Iraqi government, in cooperation with UNESCO, is currently studying the country's aquifers in order to understand the best ways to exploit groundwater (8) The groundwater stock is affected by the consumption and availability of surface water. Withdrawal of water from wells affects the flow along the river, and any change in the flow of streams can affect the amount of available groundwater. Therefore, if the amount of surface flow coming into Iraq from upstream countries is reduced, this will also have a significant impact on the groundwater systems (9) The most important problems of groundwater is that their problems of groundwater is that their heterogeneities of water quality in the heterogeneities of water quality in the aquifer even in the same one, so it is aquifer even in the same one, so it is worth to knowledge the salinity extents worth to knowledge the salinity extents in order to give a preliminary in order to give a preliminary indications about the appropriate use of indications about the appropriate use of water for either drinking, agriculture ... water for either drinking, agriculture.
Finally
The total natural run-off of the Euphrates watershed is estimated to amount to between 27.0 and 35.1 billion m3/year, while the Tigris watershed, including its tributaries, is between 41.2 and 58.3 billion m3/year (10)
The annual revenue of the Tigris River and its tributaries for the year 2020 amounted to 29.4 billion cubic meters, while the Euphrates River was 49.5 billion cubic meters (11) it is generally acknowledged that the amount of surface run-off has been reduced by upstream impairment to the order of 30%. This impact is forecasted to increase further in the next 20 years, reducing the water available to Iraq by up to 60% recently, Iraq is suffering from water shortage problems. This is due to external and internal factors affecting the water quality of water resources; they are controlled and uncontrolled factors. The uncontrolled factors are climate change and its consequences, such as reduction of precipitation and temperature increasing. The controlled factors have a significantly negative influence on water resources, but their effects involve more specific regions. The controlled factors are mainly represented by building dams and irrigation projects within the upper parts of the Tigris and Euphrates catchments.
References
(1) Al-Akkam, Ishaq Saleh (2018) Study of some morphological properties of the Tigris River. College of Education - University of Baghdad
(2) Nadhir AL-Ansari ,Nesrat Adamo (2018)Water Resources of the Euphrates River.
(3) Nadhir A. Al-Ansari (2013). Management of Water Resources in Iraq: Perspectives and Prognoses University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
(4) Ismail, Suleiman Abdullah (1999). Arab Organization for Agricultural Development - Study of Improving Methods of Protection of Water Resources – Khartoum
(5) Sabbar A.Saleh,Nadhir AL- ANasari and Twana Abdullah(2020) Ground Waterhydrology in Iraq
(6) Al-Jubouri, Salam Tel Ahmed (2018) The reality of water resources in Iraq and the possibility of their development University of Baghdad/College of Education Ibn Rushd for Human Sciences/Department of Geography
(7) Dryol, Hanan Hussein( 2020) Groundwater and its impact on the economic activity of Anbar Governorate - Al-Mustansiriya University - Issue 40
(8) UNESCO Office of Iraq (2015)Geoscientists met to identify priority groundwater systems in Iraq’. Available at www.unesco.org/new/en/iraq-office/about-this-office/single-view/news/ geoscientists_met_to_identify_priority_groundwater_systems_in_iraq/#.V1WBjpN9634, accessed 6 June 2016.
(9) Nurit Kliot, (1994) Routledge. Water Resources and Conflict in the Middle East; John Kolars, William Mitchell, 1991. The Euphrates River and the South Eastern Anatolia Development Project; Dogan Altinbilek, Water Resources Development, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 15-33, March 2004. Development and Management of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin.
(10) Nurit Kliot , Routledge (1994) Water Resources and Conflict in the Middle East; John Kolars, William Mitchell, 1991. The Euphrates River and the South Eastern Anatolia Development Project; Dogan Altinbilek, Water Resources Development, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 15-33, March 2004. Development and Management of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin
(11) Republic of Iraq - Water Resources Report for the year 2020