Toward Prudent management of Water Resources in Iraq

Abstract

In 1977 the Turkish Government started to utilize the water of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers through South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP). The project includes 22 dams and 19 hydraulic power plants which are to irrigate 17 103 km2 of land with a total storage capacity of 100 km3 which is three times more than the overall capacity of Iraq and Syrian reservoirs Prior to 1990, Syria used to receive 21 km3/year of the Euphrates water which dropped to 12km3 in 2000 onward and for Iraq it dropped from 29 km3 before 1990 to 4,4km3 (90% reduction) now. This reduced agricultural land in both countries from 650 103 to 240 103 hectares. Iraq used to receive 20.9 km3/year of water from the Tigris River and once Ilisu dam is constructed, this is likely to drop to 9.7 km3 which means that 47% of the river flow will be depleted. This means that 696 103 hectares of agricultural land will be abandoned due to water scarcity. The reduction of flow in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq is considered to be national crises and will have severe negative consequences on health and on environmental, industrial and economic development. It is believed that the Iraqi Government should take solid and fast measures to ensure prudent management of its water resources and to secure the life of huge sector of its society and protect the environment.