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Managing water resources in Western Desert of Iraqi and its role in the sustainable development of Anbar Governorate
2022-05-23
Prof. Dr. Sadiq Alewi Sulaiman
Dams and Water Resources Engineering Department
College of Engineering–University of Anbar - Iraq
Part-time researcher at the Upper Euphrates Basin Development Center
Sadeq.sulaiman@uoanbar.edu.iq
Introduction:
The effects of climate change and the resulting scarcity of rain and high temperatures led to a drought that covered the entire region, in the past few years, Iraq witnessed the worst drought in decades. The country suffers, in addition to the lack of water supplies for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries due to climatic changes and the drought situation that pervades the Middle East and the lack of fair and equitable sharing of water with the upstream countries Turkey and Iran. Salinity and pollution inside Iraq itself. All of this makes Iraq face an imminent danger that leads to the rapid deterioration of its lands as a result of desertification and the depletion of the natural capabilities of the land, which leads to the deterioration of its ability to sustain crops or wildlife and dust storms, as well as the negative impact on the human condition. For al-Anbar province in western Iraq, which occupies about one third of iraq's area, although the Euphrates River passes along the province and a total distance of about half the length of the total Euphrates River inside Iraq and the rate of discharge of about 400 cubic meters per second, However, the exploitation of its water for various projects is limited by the water quota set for the province by the Ministry of Water Resources, in addition to the costs of constructing canals, pipelines and pumping operations to exploit the waters of the Euphrates River in areas far from the river deep in western desert. Therefore, specialists had to study the exploitation of surface and groundwater available in Western Sahara for the purpose of cultivating these vast areas of land and the possibility of optimizing these waters using modern methods, methods and techniques that can be applied for optimal planning and proper management of water resources in the province to reach optimal use and sustainable development of water resources and to achieve water security and food security to requirements sufficient for the needs of the province and provide many jobs for its people. The vast majority of the total area of ??the province is suitable for agriculture and with varying degrees of efficiency and productivity if the required ingredients are provided for it. The agriculture in it depends on the open irrigation and pumping from the Euphrates River, and sometimes on wells, springs or rain in limited quantities. The population of Anbar Governorate is currently about two million people distributed over the various districts and cities of the governorate, most of which are located along the Euphrates River within the governorate. The governorate is characterized by its semi-desert climate, low rainfall and low humidity. The area of agricultural land in Anbar province, which has a water share of the Euphrates River guaranteed by the Ministry of Water Resources nearly 1250 square kilometers, more than half of it within the borders of Fallujah district and its areas, represents a total area of less than 1% of the area of Anbar province, it is located as a narrow strip along the banks of the Euphrates River, starting from entering Iraqi territory in Al-Qaim until it enters the sedimentary plain area below the city of Hit, after which the boundaries of the agricultural area will then expand to distances beyond the Euphrates River because of the relative levelness of the land and the ease of delivering irrigation water to long distances.
Water Resources in Anbar Governorate:
The governorate’s water resources can be divided into two parts: surface water resources and groundwater resources. Anbar governorate relies heavily on surface water. The surface water includes both the imports of the Euphrates River and its associated lakes and Lake Tharthar, as well as seasonal torrential water resulting from rain falls on the many valley basins and the flow of valleys In the Western Desert and what is stored in the dams’ lakes that cut off these valleys, in front of the intercepting dams, and in the excavations that arise on the paths of these valleys. WhereThe Euphrates River is the first source of water in the governorate. On its banks, most of the governorate's cities are located, and from it it takes its municipal, industrial and agricultural needs. The Euphrates River is considered one of the international rivers, as it passes through three countries: Turkey, Syria, and then Iraq (the downstream country) The river enters Iraqi territory at Hussaiba town, which is located within Al-Qaim district, one of the province's districts. Previous studies also showed that there has been a continuous increase in the salinity of the Euphrates River water in recent years as a result of the decrease in water revenues from the upstream countries and the high salinity of the water originally supplied to Iraq due to the agricultural drainage water dumped into the river from the countries of the upper Euphrates on the one hand, and the quality of the water coming to the river from Thirthar Lake and the waters of drainage inside the Iraqi borders on the other hand.
The lakes in Anbar Governorate are the second surface water resources in it, as they work to regulate the flow of water, in addition to being reservoirs in which excess flood water is held and the rivers are fed with it at the time of the low level of the water level. The most important lakes in the governorate are: Tharthar Lake, Habbaniyah Lake, and Haditha lake.
The Iraqi Western Desert includes a large group of valley basins in which seasonal torrents occur as a result of rainfall. The basins of some of these valleys extend to the borders of neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. The basin area of ??some valleys is very large and includes a large number of sub-wadi basins. The largest basin in the valleys of the Iraqi Western Desert is Wadi Houran, where the area of ??its collection is estimated at more than 13,000 km2, and the length of the main valley in it is estimated at more than 300 km., Along this valley lies a group of completed dams, the most important of which is Al-Rutba Dam, which is the largest dam in the valleys established in the Western Desert, where the reservoir capacity of its lake reaches 32 million cubic metres. Figure (1) shows the locations of the main valley basins in Anbar Governorate.
Figure (1) The locations of the main valley basins in Anbar Governorate
Groundwater represents a natural and important resource for fresh water in Anbar Governorate. As it magnifies its importance is that it is the only resource but the basis for it. Groundwater is distinguished by the fact that it can be used directly without any treatment, as it has not been exposed to pollution, as well as the stability of its temperature throughout the year, as it is considered a safe and clean resource that can be used for drinking purposes. The importance of groundwater lies in the fact that it is included in the development of plans for the future strategy with the aim of developing the region from a social and economic point of view.Groundwater is the main source of water in the Iraqi western desert, where people tend to dig wells for agriculture or for drinking purposes. The amount of groundwater used in irrigation and other uses at the level of Iraq is estimated at 2.4 billion m3 annually.
Based on the data of the current and future flows of the Euphrates River, it is clear that there is a water gap that will result from the differences between the quantities of available water resources on the one hand and their need in multiple uses by preserving the light of the current uses of water and when the methods of integrated management of water resources are not applied.Where it is expected that there will be a future water deficit in the governorate between the amount of available water resources and the actual need for them for different uses when integrated water management policies are not applied from the use of modern irrigation methods in agriculture and the cultivation of selected varieties of crops that need low water rationing and setting a hypothetical value or price for water so that the production Agricultural water is higher than the hypothetical value of the water consumed during its production process because the water needs associated with food are the highest consumption than the rest of the uses of water resources. One egg needs 135 liters, a cup of milk needs 200 liters, and one kilogram of wheat needs 1,500 liters, while producing one kilogram of meat requires 15,000 liters of water.Therefore, we need to conduct studies on agricultural crops and food commodities whose production requires a lot of water and recommend importing them instead of producing them locally to relieve pressure on the already dwindling water resources, as well as rationalizing the use of water resources in all fields.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
In light of the available data, it is clear that there is a large waste of water, whether used for irrigation or for domestic and other uses. Integrated management methods for water resources must be used, and the administrative, technical, financial and legislative authorities should be committed to applying methods of rationalizing the consumption of water resources within the governorate to ensure optimal exploitation of this wealth and to obtain sustainable development that provides food security. and water for the people of the governorate, through the application of a set of policies, including:
The application of modern irrigation methods such as drip or sprinkler irrigation instead of flood irrigation, and this process saves more than 50% of the amount of water currently used, especially if pipes or lined channels are used to transport water to agricultural lands, and this means saving more than one billion cubic meters of water annually. Use it to revive new areas and establish new population centers and farms in the Western Desert.
The culture of domestic use of water must be spread, especially among women and children, as the amount of water allocated for domestic and municipal uses can be reduced by half for each person per day, as is the case in many European and some Arab countries, by reducing waste during the use of water.
Installing of a rainwater harvesting system inside the cities and investing it in the groundwater recharge, where the rain falling on the governorate’s cities can be collected in the rainwater sewage networks and injected into the groundwater recharge wells prepared for this purpose in advance after purification of sand, mud and impurities,This groundwater is then used to irrigate agricultural areas using modern irrigation methods.
The establishment of dams on the sites of the main valleys in the governorate and the utilization of the water of the lakes formed behind those dams to recharge the groundwater and the establishment of population catchments, as well as the establishment of agricultural projects that use modern methods of irrigation through investment and encourage the private sector to manage these projects. And the adoption of modern technologies in order to preserve the collected water from evaporation and leaching.A table has been prepared of areas promising investment to be exploited in water harvesting projects in the Upper Euphrates Basin Development Center at the University of Anbar, some of which contain implemented and untapped projects, and the other part needs implementation.
Using groundwater to establish human catchments and irrigate agricultural lands in selected areas of the governorate, according to the quality and depth of groundwater in those areas, and the exploitation of groundwater within the limits of the ability of these aquifers to recharge the annual rainwater in the governorate, which is estimated at one billion cubic meters annually.
