Abstract
Optimal investment of natural water resources in an area is an effective way to provide significant amounts of water that can contribute to reduce the negative impacts of climate extremism. Proper assessment of the components of any hydrological system is a priority in watersheds studying. SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model was used within ArcGIS, to assess the hydrological situation in general, and surface runoff in particular for Galal Badra Watershed GBW (Wasit Governorate, eastern Iraq). GBW has an area of 2,655 square kilometers (89% of which is in Iran and the rest 11% within Iraq). The data set for SWAT model running were digital elevation model, slope map, soil map, LULC map, and climatic data (precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, minimum/ maximum air temperature). SWAT simulation concluded that the annual average surface runoff in GBW was 244x106 cubic meters (with an average discharge of 7.8 M3 / s), which accounts for about 25.7% of the total precipitation. This ratio can be used in preliminary forecasting of surface runoff resulting from different amounts of precipitation. The model was not calibrated due to insufficient data available to complete the calibration process. However, the results provided by the SWAT model regarding the water balance elements in the watershed, make the SWAT model an effective tool for hydrological assessments, especially in cases where the necessary data are scarce for various reasons. Also, SWAT results can be considered as a preliminary assessment, which gives an overview of the hydrological situation of the area, contributes to building an initial perception of the water system, determining the most important elements in it, and anticipating the factors most influencing it. This enables policymakers, decision-makers, and stakeholders to adopt future plans at the level of research and implementation that will develop the reality of water investment in the region under conditions of climate extremism.
Highlights
Among the many watershed simulations and assessment models, the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) is one of the important and effective tools in this field
The main objective of the study is to estimate the amount of surface runoff in particular, and to assess the hydrological condition of the Galal Badra watershed in general, by using the SWAT model and with the available digital data related to the model's operating requirements, where the SWAT model has never been used in studying the hydrological condition of the Galal Badra watershed, except for one research paper, of which Galal Badra was a part
The results showed that the total area of Galal Badra watershed (GBW) is 2,655 Km2
Summary
Among the many watershed simulations and assessment models, the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) is one of the important and effective tools in this field. Several researchers have evaluated SWAT model under different conditions around the world and at different watershed scales. The SWAT model is a basin-scale, continuous-time model that works on a daily time step and estimates the effect of management acts on water, sediment, and agricultural chemical yields in ungauged basins (Arnold et al 1998). The major components of SWAT model are hydrology, weather, erosion, land management, soil temperature, pesticides, nutrients, plant growth, channel, and reservoir routing. A few studies examined the hydrological status of the target area using the SWAT model
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