Analysis of water flow during the drought and flood seasons case study: The Mosul dam, Iraq

Abstract

Mosul Dam is a structure facilitated to create a reservoir or a human-made lake named Lake Dahuk. Tigris river is the upstream water supply of the Mosul dam. The dam located at the western of Mosul city, the center of the governorate of Nineveh in the north of Iraq. The only drawback of the dam is the position; it is built on unstable karst ground. This worry situation led to take serious efforts and treatment decisions since the occupation of Iraq in 2003. Unfortunately, no concrete news till now whether the dam is safe or not and what is the prudential supervision needed. The data of this research are obtained from the Iraqi ministry of water resources/Mosul dam department. Schedule reports and 442 monthly data values have been monitored using advanced electronic instruments and technical programming, under experience engineers and special supervisors within the period 2000-2016. The objectives of this study are; Analysis the water flow during the drought and flood seasons, also to study the impact of the Ilisu dam on the Mosul dam efficiency. In addition, this analysis gives the answers to the puzzling questions and probably hundreds of researches concerns. It was noticed that within the period 2009 to 2015 the monthly inlet water discharge values are the same values of the outlet discharge. And the highest value observed of the water level achieved by the dam in the year 2002 is 329.55 m above means sea level, while the less value is 287.89 m in 2011. In addition to the continuous operation of foundation concrete grouting, it is highly recommended to increase the depth of the grouting. Finally, the Ilisu dam has no direct impact on Mosul dam efficiency.