Water Resources and
management in Iraq
School of natural resources and their management
Department of water and Environmental
engineering
Table of contents
1- Introduction
2- Water resources in Iraq
3-Water and Sewage Sectors in Iraq
4- Water quality
5-Bioterrorisim in Iraqi water
6- Water Agreements between Iraq and Jordan
7- Impact of wars on water of Iraq
8- References
Introduction
Iraq is located in the eastern
part of the MENA region. It is
surrounded by Iran in the east,
Turkey to the north, Syria and
Jordan to the west, Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait to the
south and the Gulf to the
southeast .The total area of
Iraq is 438,320 km2 of which
924 km2 of inland water.
Water Resources in Iraq
Water Resources in Iraq
A. Dejla and Al furat
Isis Impact
Turkey-Iraq conflict
B. Rainfall
Water resources in Iraq
A-Euphrates and Tigris(Dejla and Alforat)
Iraq is fed by two major rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, both of which originate
outside of Iraq. These two rivers account for 98% of Iraq`s surface water supply.
Their flow is therefore very vulnerable to dams and water diversions in Turkey, Syria
and Iran. The Euphrates does not receive water from permanent tributaries within Iraq
territory and is fed only by seasonal runoff from wadis. The average annual flow of
the Euphrates at the border to Turkey is estimated at 30 km³, with a fluctual annual
value ranging from 10 to 40 km³. The Tigris has an average annual runoff of 21.2
km³. Within Iraq, the Tigris River receives water from five main tributaries, namely
the Khabour. Great Zab, Little Zab, Diyala and Al Authaim. Yet, only the latter lies
entirely within Iraq. All together, 50% of the Tigris water comes from outside the
country.
Water resources in Iraq
Syrian Arab
River Turkey Iraq Iran Total
Republic
Euphrates 1,230 41% 710 24% 1,060 35% 0 0% 3,000
Tigris 400 22% 44 2% 1,418 76% 0 0% 1,862
Table 1: Length of the rivers (in km) and % of river by country *
Syrian Arab
River Turkey Iraq Iran Total
Republic
Euphrates 124,320 28% 75,480 17% 177,600 40% 0 0% 444,000
Tigris 46,512 12% 776 0,2% 209,304 54% 131,784 34% 387,600
Total basin 170,832 22% 76,256 10% 386,904 51% 131,784 17% 765,600
Table 2: Distribution of the Tigris-Euphrates (Shatt Al-Arab) basin area
by country (in km2) *
Water resources in Iraq
River Turkey Syrian Arab Republic Iraq
Euphrates 88.7% 11.3% 0.0%
Tigris 51.9% 0.0% 48.1%
Table 3: National contribution to the overall water potential of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers **
* source: University of Texas
** source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey
Water resources in Iraq
• The flow of the rivers varies considerably. Destructive
flooding, especially of the Tigris, is not uncommon. In the
south of Iraq, large areas are regularly inundated, levees often
collapse and roads and villages must be built on high
embankments. Conversely, years of low flow make irrigation
difficult.
• The Euphrates and Tigris they have fallen to less than a third
of their normal flow which is largely the result of upstream
activities by Turkey and, to a much lesser extent, by Syria and
Iran
Dams in the Tigris
& Euphrates River
basins
Dams in the Euphrates basin Dams in the Tigris basin
Duban Regulator, on the Euphrates, regulating Adhaim Dam, on the Adhaim River
the flow of the Euphrates into Lake Bekhme Dam (Incomplete), on the Great Zab
Habbaniyah. Darbandikhan Dam, on the Diyala River
Fallujah Barrage, on the Euphrates. Dibis Dam, on the Little Zab
Diyala Weir, on the Diyala River
Haditha Dam, on the Euphrates, creating Lake
Dukan Dam, on the Little Zab, creating Lake Dukan
Qadisiya.
Duhok Dam, on the Duhok River
Hindiya Barrage, on the Hindiya branch of the
Hemrin Dam, on the Diyala River, creating Lake
Euphrates. Hamrin
Ramadi Barrage, on the Euphrates. Kut Barrage, on the Tigris
Warrar Regulator, on the Mosul Dam, on the Tigris
Euphrates. Samarra Dam, on the Tigris
Dam and spillways
Dams in the Tigris
Impounds Tigris River
& Euphrates River
basins (in Iraq)
Height 113 m (371 ft)
Length 3.4 km (2.1 mi)
Spillways 2
Reservoir
Total capacity 11,100,000,000 m3(8,998,9
16 acre·ft)
Active capacity 8,100,000,000 m3(6,566,77
7 acre·ft)
Water Resources in Iraq
A. Dejla and Al furat
Isis Impact
Turkey-Iraq conflict
B. Rainfall
ISIS Impact on Iraqi Water Resources
ISIS has demonstrated that they recognize the strategic importance of
controlling such water infrastructure, given that they have already
successfully taken the Mosul and Haditha dams (though as of May 2015,
they do not maintain control). Importantly, they have already used coercive
management as a weapon, when they spilled water from the Fallujah Dam
and flooded 40,000 hectares of croplands.
Since this so-called caliphate would presumably desire to expand and
eventually encompasslarge urban areas such as Baghdad and Aleppo (and
perhaps eventually Damascus, etc.), ISIS has a strategic interest
in not destroying key water and energy infrastructure, nor in degrading
water supplies, because ISIS will eventually want these things for
themselves. Furthermore, this threat is deemed most likely since it is
consistent with ISIS’ strategic interests of protectingand using key water
infrastructure, as well as being consistent with their previous use of water as
a tool of terror, control and coercion
• Conversely, blowing up a dam (and causing a flood), or polluting water ways (and
rendering water undrinkable) are contradictory to the ambitions of ISIS which is to
spread the domain of its declared caliphate. The strategic foresight and ability
demonstrated by ISIS thus far suggest that the leadership is pragmatic enough to
forego such destructive water-oriented aggression (i.e. polluting/dam detonation).
• ISIS take advantage of the fact that many of the region’s dams are under-capacity
(that is to say, these dams can retain much more water), so ISIS could turn the
outflow from the dams into a trickle. This would be catastrophic for downstream
communities, be they farmers, urban civilians, or oil refineries. Read on to find a full
analysis of how regional hydrology is related to water security and an evaluation of
the different threats.
ISIS Impact
Water Resources in Iraq
A. Dejla and Al furat
Isis Impact
Turkey-Iraq conflict
B. Rainfall
Turkey – Iraqi conflicts
In 1946 Turkey agreed to begin monitoring the two rivers and to share
related data with Iraq. In 1980 Turkey and Iraq further specified the earlier
agreement by establishing a Joint Technical Committee on Regional Waters.
Two years later, the Syrian Arab Republic joined the Committee. In the
1980s, Turkey began a $32 billion dam-building project known as the
Southeastern Anatolia Project or “GAP” . As part of GAP, Turkey
constructed a series of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants along the
Euphrates and Tigris. The key structure is the Atatürk Dam on the Euphrates,
which is located approximately 80 km upstream from the Syrian border.
Turkey – Iraqi conflicts
Gap Project
Map showing sites of
various dams as part of
Turkey's Southeastern
Anatolian Project (GAP)
Turkey- Iraqi conflicts
Turkey has stated that it would only guarantee a flow downstream from the
dam of 15.75 km³/a (500 m³/s) of Euphrates water across the border to the
Syrian Arab Republic. This represents about 50% of the natural flow of the
Euphrates at the Turkish border. Both Syria and Iraq have tried to inhibit this.
They stated that the minimum flow should average at least 700 m³/s but so
far Turkey rejected this claim.
Syria is in the unusual position of being a downstream country with regard to
Turkey and an upstream country with regard to Iraq. In 1990, the Syria
agreed to share the remaining Euphrates water with Iraq on a 58 percent
(Iraq) and 42 percent (Syria) basis, which corresponds to a flow of 9 km³/a at
the border with Iraq.
In 2008, Turkey, the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq decided to cooperate
on water issues. It was planned to establish a water institute that consists
of 18 water experts from each country in order to find a solution for
water-related problems among the three countries.
2009 2025 (est.)
Tigris 49.2 9.16
Euphrates 19.34 8.45
Table 4: Average discharge of water to Iraq (billion m³)*
Water Resources in Iraq
A. Dejla and Al furat
Isis Impact
Turkey-Iraq conflict
B. Rainfall
Water resources in Iraq
B- Rainfall
Rainfall is very seasonal and occurs mainly between
December and February. Average rainfall is estimated
at 154 mm, with a huge range from less than 100 mm
in the south and up to 1200 mm in the north east. This
can lead to extensive flooding in central and southern
Iraq.
Mean Annual
precipitation for Iraq
C- Groundwater
In many parts of northern Iraq, groundwater is the sole resource and therefore
plays a significant role in agriculture, water supply and health. Even though
Iraq currently has complex political and socio-economic problems, in its
northern part fast urbanization and economic.
expansion are visible everywhere. Monitoring and water management
schemes are vital to prevent aquifer over-exploitation in the region. In the
plain of northern Iraq, groundwater is tapped by a few thousand wells with a
depth ranging from 100 to 200 m. In the hills more to the north, spring water
from karstic aquifers is used as the main source for drinking water
Water and Sewage Sectors in Iraq
Water and Sewage Sectors in Iraq
• Iraq’s potable water sector faces myriad challenges. The
presence of these challenges offers inherent opportunities for
international companies to become increasingly active in
Iraq’s water sector. Indeed, in conversations with a multitude
of Iraqi government officials, one overarching theme of these
conversations was a widespread awareness of the need for
Iraq’s government to enlist international companies not only in
constructing new water infrastructure, but also in consulting
on preliminary studies, strategic planning, tendering processes
and project oversight
• . Major challenges identified in Dunia’s research included:
• • A lack of strategic coordination between the disparate government entities tasked with developing
Iraq’s potable water infrastructure. The Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Municipalities and
Public Works, Provincial Councils, Governors Offices and District Councils all have inputs into the
development of water infrastructure
• • Attempts at quick solutions rather than long term planning. Government entities often feel pressure
to quickly spend the money in their annual budgetary allocations. Additionally, national and
provincial political figures see the quick provision of services as a way to shore up constituent
support prior to elections. Both of these factors lead to wasteful spending of money on poorly
conceived projectsiii .
• • Absence of reliable data. Multiple interviews with Iraqi officials suggested that the absence of
reliable data hampers efforts to effectively develop Iraq’s water infrastructure. Two examples of this
include: First, a provincial official noting that the Water Directorate had no idea what water demand
currently is in any given city, because they could not accurately estimate the size of the population.
Second, an official recounting that an international company signed a contract to build a purification
plant based on a specific set of data on total dissolved solids (TDS) levels, however when the
company arrived, they discovered TDS levels three times the previously understood amount,
rendering their plans impossible to implement
• . • Depletion of resources. This problem is particularly pervasive in central and southern Iraq. The
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers both originate in Turkey, with the Euphrates (and very briefly the
Tigris) passing through Syria as well before entering Iraq. Turkey and Syria’s rate of usage of the
Tigris and Euphrates has increased and Iraq has failed to successfully implement a rationing system
along its stretch of the two rivers, resulting in a significantly diminished flow rate in southern Iraq.
The same phenomenon has occurred with the Qaroon River, which originates in Iran.
• • Increased pollution and salinity. Several factors have combined to cause a significant deterioration
in water quality in much of Iraq, particularly in southern Iraq.
Water Quality
Water Quality
Drinking water
Iraq’s drinking water quality is mixed and often poor. In 2004, 15673
drinking water samples in 15 governorates were tested with regard to water
quality. 1010 samples were found to be polluted (6.4%). In the first six
months of 2010, there occurred more over 360000 “Diarrhoea” cases, due to
polluted drinking water and poor hygiene practices. 8% of the rural
population use saline shallow village wells as main drinking source.
In Basrah, local water sources have a high salt content and water from the
network is therefore often only used for washing and cleaning purposes.
Drinking water is generally bought from water tankers or markets that
receive supplies from water treatment plants that use reverse osmosis to
remove excess salt
Groundwater
Concerning groundwater quality, the prevalence of carbonate sedimentary
rocks in the mountains in the north leads to pH values from 6.5 to 8.0 and a
generally low mineral content. The Bakhtiari aquifer which lies in the
northwestern mountain foothills has a thickness of up to 6000 m and its water
is generally of good quality.
The exceptions are waters from shallow wells that are located near cities or
villages. These waters are often contaminated, mainly due to the free seepage
of sewage water.
Quality of waters that drained through complex aquifer systems or Fars
formations depend on local factors, mainly the presence of evaporitic
gypsum or anhydrite layers. Where they are present, the total salinity and
content of Na, Cl, NO3, SO4 and Fe ions increase Such Fars formations
cover a large area of Iraq.
In southern Iraq good quality groundwater is rather limited because of high
levels of salinity. Salinity levels in Basrah are well above 7000 ppm – the
WHO standard for human consumption is 500 ppm or less.
Bioterrorism in Iraqi Water
Bioterrorism in Iraqi Water
Drinking water during war operations in west war regions was safely supplied using
these ways: 1000-18000 liter road tanks that moved along soldiers’ tracks usually
were nightly filled up across safe regions like Mehran and Gilan-e-Gharb –
compared to operation regions- and then chlorinated and disinfected by health
technicians. As operation continued, big road tanks came from back lines and
distributed water among smaller road tanks going to the front lines. There were
bottles accompanying 10 to 15 chlorine tablets for each soldier whereby they could
supply water out of springs and rivers along the route. Necessary educations were
provided for the soldiers on chlorine tablets. In the last years of the war packed
water was made up in addition to mineral water especially during chemical attacks.
Because of Iraq chemical attacks and contamination of rivers, in some operations
like Moslem-bin-aqeel (Apr 1982 in soomar district), 20 liter cruets were used in
early stages of operation; The Cruets were put in back pack and were loaded by
soldier. In the last stages, when operation progressed, small water road tanks (500
to 1200 liters) were used which had been filled, chlorinated and disinfected in
Islamabad-e-Gharb prior to the war operation.
Water systems have been targeted by terrorist groups in
Iraq , but they are less vulnerable than
often imagined. Municipal water systems are designed to eliminate impurities,
especially
pathogens, to protect public health. As part of this process, communities filter
water to remove
harmful organisms and add chlorine to kill those remaining. Although extreme
ly difficult, therehave been several attempts to deliberately contaminate water
supplies with biological agents
• Check biological agents in article 2
ISIS has covered a large territories of water
resources in iraq although it is not
intentionally done
The lack of hygiene in Isis troops and the lack of
water territories controlled by the Iraqi
government a cholera out break has occurred
Since being detected for the first time last week in the town of
Abu Ghraib, about 25 kilometers west of Baghdad, the number
of cholera cases has risen rapidly to 121, Iraq's health ministry
said September 23.
At least four deaths were recorded in Abu Ghraib, and the disease
is spreading quickly to southern provinces along the Euphrates
River. Most of the new cases are in Babel province south of
Baghdad, while at least 54 of those sickened are in the capital.
Water Agreements between Iraq and Jordan
1) The Gulf war I
In 1980 war erupted between Iran and Iraq. This war resulted in hundreds of
thousands of casualties and a tremendous loss of oil revenues for both
countries The war eventually ended in 1988 but animosities have persisted.
While the causes of the conflict were numerous and varied, one of the
principals was access to, and control of, the Shatt-al-Arab waterway.
During the Iran-Iraq war, a total of around two million barrels of oil was
discharged into the Gulf, including one and a half million barrels from the
Nowruz blow-out in 1983.
