The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq
Study region: Once, the Tigris River (with its twin, the Euphrates) was the remarkable river in the west of Asia, making Mesopotamia a cradle of civilization thousands of years ago. Upstream anthropogenic activity has choked the Tigris River, the connecting lifeline across Iraq, and, due to droughts...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-08-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581823001416 |
| _version_ | 1797798099378241536 |
|---|---|
| author | Ali Torabi Haghighi Mahdi Akbari Roohollah Noori Ali Danandeh Mehr Alireza Gohari Mehmet Emin Sönmez Nizar Abou Zaki Nese Yilmaz Bjørn Kløve |
| author_facet | Ali Torabi Haghighi Mahdi Akbari Roohollah Noori Ali Danandeh Mehr Alireza Gohari Mehmet Emin Sönmez Nizar Abou Zaki Nese Yilmaz Bjørn Kløve |
| author_sort | Ali Torabi Haghighi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Study region: Once, the Tigris River (with its twin, the Euphrates) was the remarkable river in the west of Asia, making Mesopotamia a cradle of civilization thousands of years ago. Upstream anthropogenic activity has choked the Tigris River, the connecting lifeline across Iraq, and, due to droughts and desertification, caused the country to be plagued by poverty. Study focus: Here, we give a perspective on flow regime alteration in the main corridor of the Tigris River at five crucial points (Cizre, Mosul, Baiji, Baghdad, and Kut) before and after the planned water resources development in Turkey. Turkey’s Tigris River regulation goal is to generate about 7247 GWh of energy and irrigate over 640,000 ha of farmlands. New hydrological insights for the region: We reconstructed the natural flow along the Tigris River. In addition, to evaluate hydrological droughts, we proposed a modified streamflow drought index (MSDI) and compared it with the original streamflow drought index (SDI). The results show that the worst hydrological conditions could be found below the Samarra barrage in Iraq before the Tigris River regulation in Turkey. This negative hydrological condition will be extended to the whole corridor of the Tigris River in Iraq after the implementation of Turkey's goal. As a result, for example, Cizre and Mosul will experience extreme conditions in 37.5–87.5% of the years; this means a considerable reduction in the Mosul reservoire’s inflow (135–326 m3/sec). Consequently, some parts of Mosul's hydropower and reservoir capacity will be useless, and hydrological drought upstream of the Samarra barrage will be dominated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:59:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbb0c60d37ad46b6a8b070676ea204c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-5818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:59:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbb0c60d37ad46b6a8b070676ea204c42023-06-22T05:02:59ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182023-08-0148101454The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in IraqAli Torabi Haghighi0Mahdi Akbari1Roohollah Noori2Ali Danandeh Mehr3Alireza Gohari4Mehmet Emin Sönmez5Nizar Abou Zaki6Nese Yilmaz7Bjørn Kløve8Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, Finland; Corresponding author.Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, FinlandGraduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran 1417853111, Iran; Faculty of Governance, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranDepartment of Civil Engineering, Antalya Bilim University, Antalya, Turkey; MEU Research Unit, Middle East University, Amman, JordanDepartment of Water Science and Engineering, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 841568311, IranDepartment of Geography, University of Gaziantep, TurkeyWater, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, FinlandDepartment of Freshwater Resources and Management, Faculty of Aquatic Sciences, Istanbul University, 34134, Fatih, Istanbul, TürkiyeWater, Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Technology, University of Oulu, FinlandStudy region: Once, the Tigris River (with its twin, the Euphrates) was the remarkable river in the west of Asia, making Mesopotamia a cradle of civilization thousands of years ago. Upstream anthropogenic activity has choked the Tigris River, the connecting lifeline across Iraq, and, due to droughts and desertification, caused the country to be plagued by poverty. Study focus: Here, we give a perspective on flow regime alteration in the main corridor of the Tigris River at five crucial points (Cizre, Mosul, Baiji, Baghdad, and Kut) before and after the planned water resources development in Turkey. Turkey’s Tigris River regulation goal is to generate about 7247 GWh of energy and irrigate over 640,000 ha of farmlands. New hydrological insights for the region: We reconstructed the natural flow along the Tigris River. In addition, to evaluate hydrological droughts, we proposed a modified streamflow drought index (MSDI) and compared it with the original streamflow drought index (SDI). The results show that the worst hydrological conditions could be found below the Samarra barrage in Iraq before the Tigris River regulation in Turkey. This negative hydrological condition will be extended to the whole corridor of the Tigris River in Iraq after the implementation of Turkey's goal. As a result, for example, Cizre and Mosul will experience extreme conditions in 37.5–87.5% of the years; this means a considerable reduction in the Mosul reservoire’s inflow (135–326 m3/sec). Consequently, some parts of Mosul's hydropower and reservoir capacity will be useless, and hydrological drought upstream of the Samarra barrage will be dominated.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581823001416Ilisu damDroughtModified streamflow indexImpoundmentRiver impact |
| spellingShingle | Ali Torabi Haghighi Mahdi Akbari Roohollah Noori Ali Danandeh Mehr Alireza Gohari Mehmet Emin Sönmez Nizar Abou Zaki Nese Yilmaz Bjørn Kløve The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies Ilisu dam Drought Modified streamflow index Impoundment River impact |
| title | The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq |
| title_full | The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq |
| title_fullStr | The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq |
| title_short | The impact of Turkey’s water resources development on the flow regime of the Tigris River in Iraq |
| title_sort | impact of turkey s water resources development on the flow regime of the tigris river in iraq |
| topic | Ilisu dam Drought Modified streamflow index Impoundment River impact |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581823001416 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alitorabihaghighi theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT mahdiakbari theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT roohollahnoori theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT alidanandehmehr theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT alirezagohari theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT mehmeteminsonmez theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT nizarabouzaki theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT neseyilmaz theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT bjørnkløve theimpactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT alitorabihaghighi impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT mahdiakbari impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT roohollahnoori impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT alidanandehmehr impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT alirezagohari impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT mehmeteminsonmez impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT nizarabouzaki impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT neseyilmaz impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq AT bjørnkløve impactofturkeyswaterresourcesdevelopmentontheflowregimeofthetigrisriveriniraq |