TY - JOUR
T1 - Shatt al Arab River system under escalating pressure
T2 - a preliminary exploration of the issues and options for mitigation
AU - Abdullah, Ali Dinar
AU - Masih, Ilyas
AU - van der Zaag, Pieter
AU - Karim, Usama F.A.
AU - Popescu, Ioana
AU - Al Suhail, Qusay
PY - 2015/4/3
Y1 - 2015/4/3
N2 - This paper provides a broad description of the current state of hydrological and geographical characteristics of the Shatt al Arab River (SAR), and analyses the severe decline in water quantity and escalating levels of salinity. The analyses cover SAR as well as all contributing rivers and Mesopotamian Marshlands, which is essential to present a holistic picture of the issues. The analyses are based on the most recent data, though limited, on water availability, water resources development and management infrastructure, and water quality status. The study shows that the water inflows have significantly reduced and the water quality status has deteriorated to alarmingly high levels, especially from Basra to the river mouth. The crisis can only be averted through the cooperative water management initiatives taken by all the riparian countries, which require a paradigm shift from the current approach of unilateral water management planning to international cooperation and management on the shared water resources. The crisis mitigation strategies should find ways of increasing inflows and improving water quality from the upstream source rivers. At the same time, local measures are required to avoid drainage of poor-quality domestic and industrial effluents and highly saline water from the marshes into the SAR. These efforts should be supported by sound scientific information, which is also limited at the moment.
AB - This paper provides a broad description of the current state of hydrological and geographical characteristics of the Shatt al Arab River (SAR), and analyses the severe decline in water quantity and escalating levels of salinity. The analyses cover SAR as well as all contributing rivers and Mesopotamian Marshlands, which is essential to present a holistic picture of the issues. The analyses are based on the most recent data, though limited, on water availability, water resources development and management infrastructure, and water quality status. The study shows that the water inflows have significantly reduced and the water quality status has deteriorated to alarmingly high levels, especially from Basra to the river mouth. The crisis can only be averted through the cooperative water management initiatives taken by all the riparian countries, which require a paradigm shift from the current approach of unilateral water management planning to international cooperation and management on the shared water resources. The crisis mitigation strategies should find ways of increasing inflows and improving water quality from the upstream source rivers. At the same time, local measures are required to avoid drainage of poor-quality domestic and industrial effluents and highly saline water from the marshes into the SAR. These efforts should be supported by sound scientific information, which is also limited at the moment.
KW - Salinity
KW - Shatt al Arab
KW - Water availability
KW - Water resources management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929262588&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15715124.2015.1007870
DO - 10.1080/15715124.2015.1007870
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84929262588
VL - 13
SP - 215
EP - 227
JO - International journal of river basin management
JF - International journal of river basin management
SN - 1571-5124
IS - 2
ER -