Engineering, 2020, 12, 466-486

https://www.scirp.org/journal/eng
ISSN Online: 1947-394X
ISSN Print: 1947-3931

Can We Restore the Marches in Iraq

(Garden of Eden)?

Nadhir Al-Ansari

Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden

How to cite this paper: Al-Ansari, N. Abstract

(2020) Can We Restore the Marches in Iraq
(Garden of Eden)? Engineering, 12, 466-486. Iraqi marshes are located within the southern part of Iraq where the Tigris
https://doi.org/10.4236/eng.2020.127033 and Euphrates Rivers join. There are three main marshes (Hammar Central
and Hawizeh). They used to cover an area 15,000 - 20,000 square kilometers.
Received: July 4, 2020
Accepted: July 17, 2020
The government of Iraq started to dry the marshes since 1990 for military
Published: July 20, 2020 reasons. Oil companies started to work in that area, and they occupied about
25% of that area. After 2003, the government changed, and they started to re-
Copyright © 2020 by author(s) and store the remainder 75% of marshes. To achieve this goal, they require about
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
13 billion cubic kilometers of water (BCM). The problem was the scarcity of
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International water due to the building of dams in riparian countries and climate change. It
License (CC BY 4.0). is believed that if the government follows a prudent water resources strategy,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ then it will be possible to restore the marshes.
Open Access
Keywords
Mesopotamia, Marsh, Garden of Eden, Iraq

1. Introduction
The marshes in Iraq referred to as the “Garden of Eden” are located within the
southern part of Iraq, which are created by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers sys-
tem (Figure 1). The area is characterized by its very tow slope where it ranges
from 4 to 8 cm/km within the Euphrates and Tigris respectively which caused
the two rivers to split and meander. The area stretches between double deltas,
the inner delta produced by Hillah-Hindiyah on the Euphrates and Sghatt al-
Gharaf on the Tigris, and a marine delta created by the Karun and Marunjerrahi
river system [1].
The area represents a unique ecosystem providing local inhabitants with an
essential source of habitat and livelihoods, and it has played a vital role in the
economic and social advancement of the people of Iraq. In addition, they

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represent national heritage and ecological area. The area was considered as the
largest wetland in the world and the greatest in western Asia. Furthermore, it is
considered one of the eleven non-marine wetland areas in the world with En-
demic Bird Area status [2] [3] [4] [5]. This area was inhabited since the dawn of
civilization about 6000 years BP (Figure 2 and Figure 3) [4] [5] [6] [7].
Sometimes the inhabitants of the area are called “Ma’dan” and they are sup-
posed to be descendants of Sumerians. Most of the inhabitants are semi-nomadic;
their settlements are located at the edges of the marshes or on artificial islands,
their houses are usually built of reed and mud, and Water buffalos are very im-
portant for the Marsh Arabs existence (Figure 4 and Figure 5). The buffalos are
fed on young reed shoots, and they provide them with milk, butter, yogurt, as
well as energy and crop fertilizer in the form of fuel and manure. In addition,

Figure 1. Maps of Iraqi marshes.

Figure 2. Some photos reflecting Sumerian life in the marshes [8]. (A) “He (Merodach-Baladan, King of
Babylon) fled like a bird to the swampland” and “I (Sennacherib, King of Assyria) sent my warriors into the
midst of the swamps … and they searched for five days”. But the King of Babylon could not be found. (703
B.C.) [9]. (B) Babylonian Clay Map. The world is shown as a circle surrounded by a “bitter river”. The
Euphrates flows south to a horizontal band marked “marsh” on the right and “outflow” on the left. British
Museum collection. Photo courtesy of the British Museum. (C) Relief showing life in the marshlands in an-
cient times.

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Figure 3. (A) Pictorial Representation of Sheep and a Reedhouse on a Through Found in Uruk. Collection of the
Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. By: Qahtan Al Abeed (B) Assyrian Relief from the Palace of Sennacherib in
Niniveh: Fighting Scene in the Southern Marshes. British Museum collection. By: Qahtan Al Abeed [5].

Figure 4. A typical marsh landscape.

Figure 5. Water buffalos in the marsh area.

fishing, hunting and growing rice are the other complimentary things in the life
of the marsh Arabs. The marsh dwellers were isolated until the 1970s.
Reed covers large areas of the marshes while the vegetation in the mud flats is
usually Carex and Juncus spp., Scripus brachyceras. In the fresh water lakes, the
aquatic vegetation dominates (e.g. hornwort, eel grass and pondweed, as well as
bottom vegetation such as stonewart. In the smaller lakes and back swamps, float-
ing vegetation of waterlilies, water soldier and duckweed is common [2] [10].
It has been estimated that 60% of the fish consumed in Iraq comes from the
marshes [11]. Furthermore, oil reserves were discovered in the area [12]. This
area is also very important for the migration of birds where several millions of

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birds reside in these marshes when they migrate, and about 80 bird species were
used to be in the marshlands [8].
In the 1990s, the Iraqi Government started to dry the marshes for military and
security reasons and as a consequence, catastrophic negative effects on the
marsh dwellers, animals and plants took place (Figure 6 and Figure 7). After
2003, the new Iraqi government started an attempt to restore the marshes. In
this paper, the possibility of restoring the marshes is discussed.

2. Evolution of the Lower Mesopotamia

Most of the researchers attribute the climate change and sea level changes were
the main factors that caused the development of the marshes and controlling its
water quality (Figure 2, Figure 3) [1] [13] [14].
About 18,000 years ago, during the last glacial period, the sea level was below
its present level by 120 - 130 m; this means that the gulf area was dry and the
rivers were directly flowing to the gulf of Oman [15]. The river was cutting
about −26 to −30 m into the Mesopotiaman plain. Most probably there were no
marshes at that period [13] [14] [15]. Later about 9000 years ago on ward, there
was a transgression of the sea where water reached Basra area. Then it reached
Al Amarah and An Nasiriyah areas about 7000 to 6000 years ago (Figure 8 and
Figure 9). This period known as the great flood period. It was reported that the

Figure 6. Marsh areas after drying.

Figure 7. (A) The marshland in 1973. (B) The marshland in 2000 [4].

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Figure 8. Postglacial transgression of the Gulf area [14].

Figure 9. Evolution of the Gulf level and of the Lower Mesopotamian shoreline.

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rise of sea level was relatively fast at this period [16]. This period was followed by
semiarid climate that caused regression of the sea level. At this period, the
marshes were formed (Figure 8 and Figure 9) [13]. Following that period, the
area passed through an arid climate till the current time [13] [17] [18]. Marine
fauna was found in Hammar formation (Holocene age) about −2.7 to −5.8 m
below soil surface, and this indicates that the sea level at that period reached
Amrah (Figure 8 and Figure 9) [19] [20]. Above Hammar formation, the sedi-
ments are of fluvial nature that were deposited in the shallow northern region of
the Gulf leading to the progression of the delta toward the southeast (Figure 9).
This changed the nature of the area from the brackish lagoon to fresh water
within the formed delta area [21].
Within Hammar marsh and the area east of Qurna-Basra, number of archeo-
logical sites were discovered that indicated that during the second and first mil-
lennium indicating, the Gulf shoreline was further south. The southern limit of
the Mesopotamian delta was very near its present limit during Hellenistic pe-
riod. During that period, the sea level was about 1 m lower than its present level
[15] [22]. Following this period, no major events took place apart from the Ti-
gris River followed the Gharaf bed into the Euphrates forming a very big marsh
370 km long and 90 km wide during the seventh century.

3. Climate of Marshland
Generally, the area is characterized by dry hot summer that extends from June to
September and mild wet winter that extends from October to May reflecting
continental to subtropical climate. Annual precipitation increases from south-
west to the northeast (Figure 10). The average annual rainfall in the area ranges
from 42 to 185 mm. The long term average annual rainfall within the marshland
at the rainy period is between 40 to 60 days, and the probability of intensive
rainfall (1 - 10 mm) is only 25% - 27% [23]. It is noteworthy to mention that
October to May, have a relatively low precipitation where the maximum preci-
pitation takes place during December, January to March. Al Amarah, Al Basrah
and Al Nasiriyah stations show an average annual precipitation of 185.42, 152.4
and 109.22 mm respectively [23] [24].
The average annual temperature is ranging between 22.2˚C and 27.2˚C in the
marshland area and it reaches more than 500˚C during summer and sometimes
drop below zero during winter (Figure 11). The absolute maximum and mini-
mum are 49˚C and −2.2˚C - 2.8˚C respectively. The metrological data show that
the average maximum and minimum temperatures are 30˚C and 19˚C respec-
tively. June, July and August are the warmest months (monthly average 34˚C -
36˚C) while January, February and December are the coldest months (monthly
average 8.8˚C - 12.2˚C). It should be mentioned, however, that about 10 days a
year the temperature is equal or below 0˚C.
As far as the humidity of the area is concerned, it is considered a humid area
(Figure 12) where the humidity reaches its maximum in winter (67% - 80%) and

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Figure 10. Rainfall distribution area (mm).

Figure 11. Geographical distribution of mean annual temperature (˚C).

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Figure 12. Map of geographical distribution of average annual humidity (%).

the minimum in summer (18% - 27%) with a mean value of 40% - 45%. The to-
tal annual radiation reaches 525 milliwatt/hour where it reaches its maximum in
June and July and its minimum in December and January. Eight to nine hours is
the sunshine duration as an average during the day, this is equivalent to 69% -
74%. In summer sunshine duration reaches 80% - 90% while in winter it does
not exceed 70%. The prevailing wind direction is northwesterly and westerly.
During spring, a south-easterly wind present refereed to as “khansin”. This wind
comes from Saudi Arabia and usually brings sand storms. Mean annual wind
velocities are ranging from 3.6 to 5.7 m/sec with the highest mean monthly wind
velocities taking place in the period June to August. Potential evapotranspiration
(ETo) map (Figure 13) shows that the rate is higher in the south relative to the
north. The average annual ETo is higher than 2000 mm. ETo reaches its maxi-
mum values from May to September and its minimum during January. During
summer, 50% of ETo annual amount occurs while it is 22% - 23% during spring
and autumn, and it reaches its minimum (6%) during winter. The average an-
nual day with fog is 27 days, and the maximum number of fog days occurs in
December and January. As far as thunderstorms are concerned, its mean annual
number of days is 7 usually occurring during the period October to May. The
average annual dust days are of the range 36 - 53 days, and they usually occur
from April to August with the peak in June and July. The western parts suffer
more than other parts from the dust storms.

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Figure 13. Geographical distribution of mean annual ETo (mm).

4. The Marshes
The marshland is located in a very flat area. It rises gently toward the southwes-
tern plateau with an elevation of 940 m and from the northeast toward Zagros
Mountains, which reaches 3000 m. The area is featureless and very plain. The
widest portion is about 200 km while the narrowest portion is about 45 km near
Basrah (Figure 1). There are some areas, which are below sea level. Within the
area, the Tigris and Euphrates separate in many sub branches, which disappear
in the large marshland that occupies 15,000 - 20,000 square kilometers depend-
ing on the availability of water. The main marches in the area are Hammar, Hu-
waeizah and Qurnah or Central marches (Figure 1).
Hammar Marsh
This marsh is located south of the Euphrates River and extends from Nasi-
riyah in the west to the outskirts of Basrah on Shatt Al-Arab in the east. Toward
the south, saline lakes and sand dune belt of the Southern Desert border it. It
occupies and area of 2800 square kilometers as a permanent lake before the
1970’s which is about 120 km long and 25 km wide. During the flood, it can ex-
tend to 4500 square kilometers. The maximum water depth in this marsh is
within a range of 1.8 to 3 m. During summer; parts of the wet area dry along its
shoreline and banks, and islands emerge. These islands are usually used for
agricultural purposes. The main source of water is by flooding and tributaries of

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the Euphrates River. Another source is the overflowing from the Qurnah Marsh,
also nourished the Al Hammar Marsh. Groundwater recharge was another
source of replenishment.
Qurnah Marshes
These marshes lie between the Tigris River to the east and the Euphrates River
to the south; the area is roughly delimited by a triangle between Nasiriyah, Qalat
Saleh and Qurnah. During seventies of last century, the Qurnah Marshes cov-
ered an area of about 3000 square kilometers bounded by the Tigris River east
and the Euphrates River from the south. These marshes receive water from Ti-
gris’s distributaries, namely the Shatt al-Muminah and Majar al-Kabir south of
Amarah. The water depth in some areas reaches 3 m. The area consists of reed
beds and several permanent lakes including, Umm al Binni Lake. The Al-Zikri
and Hawr Umm Al-Binni lakes are two of the notable lakes and are 3 m deep.
Hawizeh Marshes
This marsh area is partly located to the east of the Tigris River and some parts
in Iran, which is referred to as Hawr Al-Azim. The source of water is by the Kark-
heh River from Iran, while from Iraq, the Tigris distributaries Al-Musharrah and
Al-Kahla supply the marsh. This marsh covers an area of about 3000 square ki-
lometers, and it is 80 km wide at the north and 30 km from the south. The
southern part is usually seasonal while the central and northern parts are per-
manent having 6 m depth of water in some parts. This marsh is characterized by
moderately dense vegetation that can be found in the permanent areas.
Hydraulic structure built during the 20th century; construction of major hy-
draulic works played an essential role in controlling the floods. Al-Hindiya Bar-
rage was inaugurated in 1913 on the Euphrates River while Al-Kut Barrage was
constructed in 1938, which directed more water flow towards the Gharraf River
to supply irrigation for field agriculture, thereby decreasing the amount of water
flowing from the Tigris into the Qurnah (Central) and Huweizah marshes. De-
tails of the hydrological projects built by riparian countries are described later.
All these factors reduced the flow of the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Fur-
thermore, many oil fields were discovered within the area that meant drying
1000 square kilometers of the marshes. The main oil fields are:
1) South Rumayllah in the Al Hammar Marsh. This is a super-giant oilfield in
production since 1953. The northern portion of the oilfield extends into the
marshlands. Approximately 300 km2 of marshlands have been drained to ac-
commodate its production footprint.
2) North Rumayllah in the Hammar Marsh. North Rumayllah was discovered
shortly after the main Rumayllah field in 1954, but did not go online until 1972.
Approximately 200 km2 of marshlands were drained to accommodate its pro-
duction footprint.
3) Zubayr field within the southeastern most Hammar Marsh. This oilfield has
been producing since 1949; approximately 100 km2 of marshland were drained
to allow for production facilities.

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4) West Qurnah in the Hammar and Qurnah Marshes. This is essentially the
northern extension of the Rumayllah oilfields and represents a separate su-
per-giant oilfield. The field was initially developed in the late 1980s. Only the
portion within Hammar Marsh is under production, for which an area of about
150 km2 of marshlands was drained.
5) Majnoon Field within the Huweizah Marsh. This is a super-giant oilfield
discovered in 1977. Approximately 300 km2 of marshlands were drained to ac-
commodate the footprint of its production facilities.
After the 1990s, the Iraqi Government started to drain the marshes for mili-
tary and security reasons and 63% of the marshes disappeared in 1992 compared
to 1985 (Table 1) [25]. To enable the army to move inside the marshes, the cen-
tral government started to execute five major drainage projects to prevent water
from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers from reaching the marches that were con-
structed to drain the marshes are discussed in details by [26] [27] [28] [29]. Lat-
er, the army launched a major attack against marsh dwellers using artillery,
mortar and ground attacks [30] [31] [32]. Two third of the marshes were not re-
ceiving water inputs in 1993 and in 2000 less than 10% remained [33]. The pop-
ulation of marsh’s dwellers before 1990 was about 500,000 and due to the mili-
tary activities’ 120,000 marsh dwellers left to Iran [33] [34]. Later, in 1997,
192,000 marsh dwellers were still living southern Iraq, and 200,000 remained in
all Iraq [35]. Some local dwellers turned to farming to survive. This caused a
number of negative environmental implications. One of the implications is poor
water quality [4] [36] [37]. It should be mentioned, however, that the area was

Table 1. Land cover classification and change in the Marshes area 1977-2000 [25].

Hammar Marsh

Land cover Category 1977 (km 2) 1985 (km 2) 1985 (km 2)

Permanent Marsh 1632 2347 60

Seasonal Marsh/Agriculture 286 339 210

Open Water 1933 694 112

Total Permanent Wetland 3565 3041 172

Qurnah Marsh

Permanent Marsh 2765 3244 82

Seasonal Marsh/Agriculture 380 190 689

Open Water 646 203 66

Total Permanent Wetland 3411 3447 148

Hawizeh Marsh

Permanent Marsh 2408 2496 973

Seasonal Marsh/Agriculture 286 224 507

Open Water 785 766 173

Total Permanent Wetland 3193 3262 1146

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highly contaminated by army munitions and poison gas [28] [31] [38].
Later, after 2003, people living near the marshes started to break down the di-
versions’ structures to let water entering the marsh lands [33]. The Iraqi Gov-
ernment and the International community started to restore the marshes. Vege-
tation and wetland increased by 58% and the marshland was covering an area of
44,950 square kilometers in 2008. Then, the area was reduced to 3420 square ki-
lometers in April 2009 and to 2313 square kilometers in July 2009 [33] [39]. The
area increase and decrease variations are due to water availability and shortages.
For this reason, this phenomenon continued with time (see Figure 14).

5. How Much Water Is Required to Restore the Marshes?

The volume of water required to restore 75% of the marshes is about 13 BCM
(Table 2) [40]-[57]. To find out this; we have to look at the whole water availa-
bility in Iraq. Water resources in Iraq mainly depend on the volume of water of
the Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries that enter in Iraq from other ripa-
rian countries (Figure 15) [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]. The two rivers rise in Turkey

Figure 14. Changes of the area covered by the marshes for the period 2002 to 2019 ac-
cording to the availability of water.

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Table 2. The volume of water required to restore the Iraqi marshes.

Total available area % restored area Water required

Marsh % goal area
km2 2008 BCM

Huweizah 1800 44 75 5495

Hammar 1800 23 75 3263

Qurnah 2425 25 75 4128

Total 12,886

Figure 15. Water supply by country within the Tigris and Euphrates basins to Iraq.

while some of the tributaries of the Tigris rise in Iran. Any activity within Tur-
key and Iran affects the quantity and quality of the water entering Iraq.
Long-term average quantity of water entering Iraq from main Tigris and its
tributaries are about 21.2 and 24.78 BCM while the Euphrates long average an-
nual flow that is received by Iraq is about 30 BCM [40]-[47]. Since the 1970s, the
flow of the two rivers and their tributaries started to decrease. The flow of the
Tigris River and its tributaries at Baghdad was 1207 cumecs for the period
1931-1960 and it dropped to 927 and 522 cumecs for the periods 1961-2000 and
after the year 2000 respectively. The average annual flow of the Euphrates started
to decrease from 30 BCM to about 4.4 BCM. This decrease of the flow of the riv-
ers is due to the projects executed in Turkey, Iran and Syria and climate change
[48]-[63].
Turkey, Iran and Syria started to build dams in the upper parts of the catch-
ment (Tables 3-5). Turkey started to execute what is known as the GAP project.
This project involves 22 dams and 19 power generation plants (Table 3) [64]
[65]. Iran blocked the Karoon River which supplies about 50% of the flow of
Shat Al-Arab River. In addition, other dams were constructed and all the valleys
entering Iraq from Iran were diverted (Table 4) [42] [43]. Syria constructed 4
dams (Table 5) only, and this is due to the security situation in that country. All

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Table 3. Dams constructed by turkey on the rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

Dam River Height (m) Purpose Completion Date

Ḉetin Dam (Alkumru) Tigris/Botan 145 P 2016

Aslandaḡ Tigris/Greater Zab/Bembo 60 I/M/P (future) 2012

Beyyurdu Tigris/Greater Zab/Bembo 48 I/M/P (future) Under Construction

Atatṻrk (Karababa) Euphrates 169 P 1992

Balli Tigris/Khabour/Hezil/Ortasu 49 I/M/P Under Construction

Batman Tigris/Batman 74 I/P 1999

Beyhan I Euphrates/Murat 97 P 2015

Beyhan II Euphrates/Murat 62 P Planned

Birecik Euphrates 62.5 I/P 2001

Burḉ Bendi Euphrates/Gṏksu 47 P 2010

Cizre Tigris/Botan 46 I/P Planned

Ḉoukurca Tigris/Greater Zab/Gṻzedlere 45.5 W/M Under Construction

Dumluka Euphrates/Bugur 30 I 1991

Erkenek Euphrates/Adiyaman - p Operational

Gṏksu Euphrates/Gṏksu 52 I 1991

Hecihider Euphrates/Sehir 42 I 1989

Hancaḡiz Euphrates/- - I 1988

Ilisu Tigris 135 I/P/F 2017

Upperkalekṏy Euphrates/Murat 137.5 P 2017

Lower kalekṏy Euphrates/Murat 115 P Planned

Karakaya Euphrates 158 P 1987

Karkamiṣ Euphrates 21.1 P 2000

Kavsaktepe Tigris/Khabour/Hezil/Ortasu 66 W/M Under Construction

Kayacik Euphrates/Sajur 45 I/P 2005

Keban Euphrates 207 P 1974

Kirazlik Euphrates/Botan 60 I/P 2011

Kralkizi Tigris/Maden 113 I/P 1997

Musatatepe Tigris/Khabour/Hezil/Ortasu 34.5 W/M Under Construction

Silope Tigris/Khabour/Hezil 79.5 W/M/P 2012

Silvan Tigris/Batman 174.5 I/P 2017

Sirrntiṣ Tigris/Birimşe 92 I 2013

Ṣirnak Tigris/Khabour/Hezil/Ortasu 56.8 W/M 2012

Uludere Tigris/Khabour/Hezil/Ortasu 55.5 W/M Under Construction

F: Flood Control I: Irrigation M: Military P: Power W: Water supply.

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Table 4. Dams constructed by Iran on the tributaries of the river Tigris.

Completion
Dam River Height (m) Purpose
Date

Dez Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 203 I/P 1963

Shahid Abbaspour (Karun 1) Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 200 P 1976

Masjed Sulaayman (Karun 2) Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 164 P 1976

Karun 3 Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 205 I/P/F 2002

Karun 4 Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 230 I/P/F 2010

Garan Tigris/Diyala/Sirwan 62 I 2005

Darayan Tigris/Diyala/Sirwan 169 I/P 2010

Upper Gotvand Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 180 P 2012

Lowe Gotvand Shatt Al-Arab/Karun 22 P 1977

Karkha Shatt Al-Arab/Karkha 127 I/P 2001

Seimare Shatt Al-Arab/Karkha 180 P 2013

Khersan 3 Shatt Al-Arab/Karun/Karkha 195 P/F 2015

F: Flood Control I: Irrigation M: Military P: Power W: Water supply.

Table 5. Dams constructed by Syria on the River Euphrates.

Dam River Height (m) Purpose Completion Date

Baath Euphrates 14 P, I, F 1988

Tabaqa Euphrates 60 P, I 1975

Tishrine Euphrates 40 P 1999

Upper Khabour Khabour I 1992

F: Flood Control I: Irrigation M: Military P: Power W: Water supply.

these projects caused a decrease in the flow of the rivers and decrease in the wa-
ter quality of the river too.
Furthermore, climate change also affected the flow of the two rivers. All re-
search carried out concerning the Middle East indicates that this area is suffering
more than other areas in the world due to climate change, and this caused de-
crease of precipitation and increase of the temperature [42]-[63]. Prediction
models indicate that there will be 15% - 25% reduction in precipitation, and that
will cause a reduction of surface water flow about 29% to 73%. This situation will
cause grave depletion of groundwater resources. Water scarcity will affect agri-
culture, municipal water supply, sanitation industry and life quality. It is ex-
pected that Iraq will suffer from water shortages where it will reach −20.6 BCM
in 2040 [66].
In view of the above, prudent strategic water management plan is required.
The main outlines are such a plan should include:
• Projects in riparian countries.
• Climate change effect.

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• -Using modern irrigation techniques and highly consuming water plants and
vegetables is to be avoided.
• Using non-conventional water resources.
• Public awareness program is to be put into practice.
• Maintenances of all existing projects.
• Executing new suggested dams.
• Human resources development plan.
• Discussions with riparian countries about Iraq’s water share from the rivers.
The details of such plan are given by [40] [42] [43] [44] [45] [47].
In addition, in case the situation remains as it is, all future predictions suggest
that all riparian countries will be under water shortage stress. Bilateral talks
and/or agreements are not sufficient to begin discussions for a regional solution.
Therefore, such negotiations and discussions require a third party to intervene
to bring all riparian countries together. To reach a final solution and sign an
agreement between riparian countries this requires an external mediator that can
highlight and frame the issues in such a way that each country believes that it is
gaining by joining the discussion and will lose something by avoiding the dis-
cussions. The third party (mediator) should be influential on the international
political level, has the capability of financial support and has high technical skills
that can be used. In such a case, all parties will be seriously involved in the dis-
cussions. Furthermore, it is believed that such negotiations between Iraq and
others should include commercial, agricultural, industrial, military and security,
trade and water. This is because Turkey is the dominant regional power and will
not take the discussion seriously unless there are incentives.
In this context, it is believed that if this plan is put into practice, the water can
be made available to restore the marshes.

6. Conclusion
Iraqi marshes are located within the southern part of Iraq where the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers join in a very gentle slope area (4 to 8 cm/km). The marshes
used to cover an area 15,000 - 20,000 square kilometers, and about 500,000
people used to live within that area. After the first Gulf war, the government of
Iraq started to dry the marshes since 1990 for military and security reasons. Oil
companies started to work in that area and some of the locals used some areas
for agricultural activities, and this led to be occupied about 25% of the marsh
area. After 2003, the government changed and they started to restore the re-
mainder 75% of marshes. To achieve this goad they require about 13 billion cu-
bic kilometers of water (BCM). The problem was the scarcity of water due to the
building of dams in riparian countries and climate change. It is believed that if
the government has to change its strategy of water resources management be-
cause the existing strategy will lead to more water scarcity problems. A new
strategy must reach agreements with riparian countries to secure the amount of
water that Iraq should get from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tribu-

DOI: 10.4236/eng.2020.127033 481 Engineering

N. Al-Ansari

taries. In addition, this strategy should seriously consider scientific outlines to

consider the effect of climate change and modernizing irrigation techniques and
maintenance of existing water and agricultural projects. The use of non-conven-
tional water resources use, and public awareness programs are to be put in prac-
tice.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Professor Husain Musa Hussain of Remote
Sensing Center, University of Kufa, Iraq for providing the satellite photos.

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this pa-
per.

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