Abstract
The magnitude of water resources shortages in the Middle East represents an important factor in the stability of the region and it is a vital element in protecting sustained economic development in the region. This investigation addresses the ongoing challenge of water governance in Iraq by examining how profitability, at both the farm and basin levels, is affected by various water appropriation systems. Farmland irrigation in Iraq was evaluated using three water appropriation systems; upstream (UPR), downstream (DPR) and proportional (PSR) sharing rule. Their impacts on farm income under normal, dry, and drought water supply scenarios were evaluated using an irrigation water model coupled with a nonlinear programming (NLP) optimization model. As compared to UPR, PSR provided a 32% and 75% increase in total farm income for the Tigris River under dry and drought supply conditions, respectively. As compared to DPR, PSR provided a 47% and 83.5% increase in total farm income for the Euphrates River under dry and drought supply conditions, respectively.
Highlights
Iraq is located in the eastern part of the arid and semi-arid Middle East
The net farm income levels associated with irrigation for the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers, predicted under each of the three water shortage sharing rules described in the mathematical model, are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3
The net income losses under proportional sharing allocation rules (PSR) during shortages have less economic cost caused by drought when compared with other types of water allocation rules due to the fact that PSR provides the opportunity for all provinces, under dry and drought conditions, to cultivate part of their farmland with higher economical crops
Summary
Iraq is located in the eastern part of the arid and semi-arid Middle East. The country’s climate tends to have temperatures of 43°C during the months of July and August and drop down to an average of 16-20°C during the winter (Al-Ansari, 2013, Al-Ansari & Knutsson, 2011). Numerous dams, canal systems, irrigation projects and flood control structures were constructed on the river systems inside Iraq (UNEP, 2001; Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, 2013). These structures had positive impacts on the receiving agricultural lands and the installation of tile drainage systems helped develop and improve agricultural lands providing an important impact on the country's economy. ISIS threatened many other important hydraulic structures such as Haditha Dam on the Euphrates River close to the Syrian border These threats generated instability in water supplies and in their associated agricultural production as the Iraqi government could not ascertain control of the water supplies. In late 2016, efforts to solve the problem at the Mosul Dam were resumed by the Iraqi government which created hope in recovering the dam to its full functionality
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