Abstract
Major modifications regulating the Tigris River, originated in the 1940s and continuing to the present, have resulted in changes in salinity in the system over time and in different portions of the river course. The increase in salinity is due to decreases in stream discharge due to dams, water management structures such as the Lake Tharthar system, irrigation return flow, and soluble minerals in the basin. This research documents the increase and evaluates the causes of the salinity increase of the river from predevelopment to present using published and previously unavailable data. The predevelopment salinity was under 600 ppm, since 1984 has exceeded the 1000 ppm threshold recommended for drinking water downstream of Amara. A minimum instream flow for the river is calculated at Baghdad and Kut at 185 cubic meters per second (cms), approximately 15% of the mean historical flow of the river, but above the lowest minimum flow recorded at 140 cms. Recommended salinity management options discussed include (1) eliminating Lake Tharthar as a water storage facility, (2) managing saline inflows from tributaries, and (3) employing a minimum instream flow for the river.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abd-El-Mooty M, Kansoh R, Abdulhadi A (2016) Challenges of water resources in Iraq. Hydrol Curr Res 7(260):2. https://doi.org/10.4172/2157-7587.1000260
Al-Ansari N, Ali A, Knutsson S (2014) Present conditions and future challenges of water resources problems in Iraq. J Water Res Pr 6(12):1066–1098. https://doi.org/10.4236/jwarp.2014.612102
Al-Faraj FAM, Scholz M (2014) Assessment of temporal hydrologic anomalies coupled with drought impact for a transboundary river flow regime: the Diyala watershed case study. J Hydrol 517:64–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.05.021
Al-Khashab WH (1958) The water budget of the Tigris and the Euphrates Basin, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA
Al-Saady YI, Abdullah EJ (2014) Water quality of Tigris River within Missan Governorate eastern part of the Mesopotamia plain—Iraq. J Babylon Univ Pure Appl Sci 9(22):2489–2502
Al-Sabah BJ (2016) Application of water quality index to assessment of Tigris River. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci 5(10):397–407. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2016.510.045
Al-Shujairi SOH, Sulaiman SO, Najemalden MA (2015) Variations of major ionic composition and salinity of Tigris River within Iraq. Sulaimani J Eng Sci 1(2):64–70
Altinbilek D (2004) Development and management of the Euphrates–Tigris basin. Int J Water Resour Dev 20(1):15–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900620310001635584
Basin Salinity Management 2030 (BSM2030) (2015) Published by the Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council. https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/pubs/D16-34851-basin_salinity_management_strategy_BSM2030.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Beaumont P (1978) The river Euphrates: an international problem of water development resources. Environ Conserv 5(1):35–44
Beaumont P (1998) Restructuring of water usage in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin: the impact of modern water management policies. Middle eastern natural environment. Yale School For Environ Stud 103:168–186
Bilen Ö (1997) Turkey and water issues in the Middle East. Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration
Buringh (1960) Soils and soils conditions of Iraq. the Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad
Cheng X, Benke KK, Beverly C, Christy B, Weeks A, Barlow K, Reid M (2014) Balancing trade-off issues in land use change and the impact on streamflow and salinity management. Hydrol Proc 28:1641–1662. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9698
Clark P, Magee S (2001) the Iraqi Marshlands: a human and environmental study, the AMAR International Charitable Foundation. http://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iraqi-marshlands-human-and-environmental-study. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Dawes WR, Gilfedder M, Walker GR, Evans WR (2004) Biophysical modelling of catchment-scale surface water and groundwater response to land-use change. Math Comput Simul 64(1):3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4754(03)00116-2
Declaration B, Williams PB, Frucht SB (2006) A review of the hydrologic and geomorphic impacts of the proposed Ilisu Dam. http://www2.weed-online.org/uploads/PWA_Ilisu_Report.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Dyson M, Bergkamp G, Scanlon J (2003) Flow: the essentials of environmental flows. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, pp 20–87
Fanack (2016) Water of the Middle East and North Africa, Water Quality of Iraq. https://water.fanack.com/iraq/water-quality-in-iraq/#_ftn12. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) (1970) Salinity seminar Baghdad, irrigation and drainage paper 7, Rome
FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) (1976) Water quality for agriculture. Irrigation and drainage paper 29 Rev1. FAO, Rome
Fattah QN, Abdul Baki SJ (1980) Effect of drainage systems on water quality in major Iraqi rivers. IAHS-AISH Publ (IAHS) 130:265–269
Friedrich K, Grossman RL, Huntington J, Blanken PD, Lenters J, Holman KD, Gochis D, Livneh B, Prairie J, Skeie E, Healey NC, Dahm K, Pearson C, Finnessey T, Hook SJ, Kowalski T (2018) Reservoir evaporation in the Western United States: current science, challenges, and future needs. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 99:167–187. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00224.1
Haigh FF (1951) Report on the control of the rivers of Iraq and the utilization of their waters. Directorate general of irrigation
Hanna AB, Al Talbani K (1970) Evaluation of water quality in Iraq. First Technical Conference. Arab Federation of Agricultural Engineers. Khartoum, Sudan
Harza Engineering Company (1963) Hydrologic survey of Iraq: final report, Baghdad
Holmes K (2010) Tigris and Euphrates River basin map. Annual precipitation in the river basin for 2010 (Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria), Scale 1:5,300,000,
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) (2015) Report: Euphrates-Tigris Basin. http://www.harcresearch.org/sites/default/files/Project_Documents/Reports1-EuphratesTigris.pdf, Accessed 10 March 2016
ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) (2012a) Iraq salinity project, technical report 6. In: Water and salt trends and balances for the Mesopotamian plain
ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) (2012b) Iraq salinity project, report 1: situation analysis, managing Salinity in Iraq's Agriculture
Jalut QH, Abbas NL, Mohammad AT (2018) Management of groundwater resources in the Al-Mansourieh zone in the Diyala River Basin in Eastern Iraq. Groundwater Sustain Dev 6:79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsd.2017.11.004
Kaushal SS, Likens GE, Pace ML, Utz RM, Haq S, Gorman J, Grese M (2018) Freshwater salinization syndrome on a continental scale. Proc Natl Acad Sci Early Edition 115:E574–E583. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711234115
Kelley JR, Wakeley LD, Broadfoot SW, Pearson ML, McGrath CA, McGill TE, Jorgeson JD, Talbot CA (2007) Geologic setting of Mosul Dam and its engineering implications (No. ERDC-TR-07-10). Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg
Kolars J (1994) Problems of international river management: the case of the Euphrates. In: Biswas AK (ed) International waters of the Middle East—from Euphrates–Tigris to Nile. Oxford University Press, London, pp 44–94
Kucukmehmetoglu M, Guldmann J (2010) Multiobjective allocation of transboundary water resources: case of the Euphrates and Tigris. J Water Resour Plan Manag 136(1):95–105. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2010)136:1(95)
Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Water Resources Data (2013) http://mosoa.mowr.gov.iq/for.htm, Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Mirza MMQ (1998) Diversion of the Ganges water at Farakka and its effect on salinity in Bangladesh. Environ Manag 22(5):711–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002679900141
Morford S (2014) Salinity in the Colorado River Basin. https://watershed.ucdavis.edu/education/classes/files/content/page/6%20Morford-Colorado_Basin_Salinity.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Moyel MS, Hussain NA (2015) Water quality assessment of the Shatt al-Arab River, Southern Iraq. J Coast Life Med 3(6):459–465
Odemis B, Sangun MK, Evrendilek F (2010) Quantifying long-term changes in water quality and quantity of Euphrates and Tigris rivers, Turkey. Environ Monit Assess 170(1):475–490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1248-3
Oosterbaan RJ (2003) Water and salt balance along rivers in (semi) arid zones, which provide water for irrigation and receive return flow. Irrigation, Drainage and Salinity Management. http://www.waterlog.info/pdf/riversalt.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Partow H (2001) The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem Early Warning and Assessment Technical Report. UNEP/DEWA/TR.01–3 Rev. 1, Division of Early Warning and Assessment, United Nations Environment Program, Nairobi, Kenya
Peck AJ (1978) Salinization of non-irrigated soils and associated streams: a review. Aust J Soil Res 16:157–168
Peirson WL, Bishop K, Van Senden D, Horton PR, Adamantidis CA (2002) Environmental water requirements to maintain estuarine processes. Environmental flows initiative technical report. http://www.lsln.net.au/jspui/handle/1/11154
Rahi KA, Halihan T (2010) Changes in the salinity of the Euphrates River system in Iraq. Reg Environ Chang 10(1):27–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-009-0083-y
Rajagopalan B, Nowak K, Prairie J, Hoerling M, Harding B, Barsugli J, Ray A, Udall B (2009) Water supply risk on the Colorado River: can management mitigate? Water Resour Res 45(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2008WR007652
Richardson CJ (2016) Mesopotamian Marshes of Iraq. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6173-5_70-1
Ross A, Connell D (2016) The evolution and performance of river basin management in the Murray-Darling Basin. Ecol Soc 21(3):29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08664-210329
Saleh DK (2010) Stream gage descriptions and streamflow statistics for sites in the Tigris River and Euphrates River basins, Iraq (No. 540). US Geological Survey
Sissakian VK (2011) Genesis and age estimation of the Tharthar depression, Central west Iraq. Iraqi Bull Geol Min 7(3):47–62
Tanji KK (2002) Salinity in the soil environment. In: Salinity: environment-plants-molecules. Springer, Netherlands, pp 21–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48155-3_2
Tennant DL (1976) Instream flow regimens for fish, wildlife, recreation and related environmental resources. Fisheries 1(4):6–10
Uitto JI, Duda AM (2002) Management of transboundary water resources: lessons from international cooperation for conflict prevention. Geogr J 168(4):365–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0016-7398.2002.00062.x
UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program) (2003) Desk Study on the Environment of Iraq. http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/Iraq_DS.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
UN-ESCWA and BGR (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe) (2013) Inventory of shared water resources in western Asia. Beirut
USBR (United States Bureau of Reclamation) (2013) Quality of water, Colorado River Basin, Progress Report No. 24, Reclamation: Managing Rivers in the West. https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/salinity/pdfs/PR24final.pdf. Accessed 10 Mar 2016
Vaghefi SA, Mousavi SJ, Abbaspour KC, Srinivasan R, Yang H (2013) Analyses of the impact of climate change on water resources components, drought and wheat yield in semiarid regions: Karkheh River Basin in Iran. Hydrol Process 28(4):2018–2032. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9747
Varol M, Gökot B, Bekleyen A (2010) Assessment of water pollution in the Tigris River in Diyarbakır, Turkey. Water Pract Technol 5(1):wpt2010021. https://doi.org/10.2166/WPT.2010.021
Voss KA, Famiglietti JS, Lo M, Linage C, Rodell M, Swenson SC (2013) Groundwater depletion in the Middle East from GRACE with implications for transboundary water management in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region. Water Resour Res 49:904–914. https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20078
Walton NRG (1989) Electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids-what is their precise relationship? Desalination 72(3):275–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-9164(89)80012-8
WHO (World Health Organization) (1997) Guidelines for drinking-water quality: surveillance and control of community supplies, 2nd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva
Wichelns D, Qadir M (2015) Achieving sustainable irrigation requires effective management of salts, soil salinity, and shallow groundwater. Agric Water Manag 157:31–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2014.08.016
Wu W, Mhaimeed AS, Al-Shafie WM, Ziadat F, Dhehibi B, Nangia V, De Pauw E (2014) Mapping soil salinity changes using remote sensing in Central Iraq. Geoderma Reg 2:21–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2014.09.002
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the College of Engineering at the University of Mustansiriyah and the Boone Pickens School of Geology at Oklahoma State University for supporting the research. We would also like to thank the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources for access to salinity and discharge data. Thanks to Veronica Reed for assistance with editing the manuscript. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Editor:Ülo Mander.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rahi, K.A., Halihan, T. Salinity evolution of the Tigris River. Reg Environ Change 18, 2117–2127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1344-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1344-4