Water Balance Calculation and Climate Type for Proposed Dam in Bastora Basin Erbil, North Iraq

Abstract

Bastora basin is located 20 kilometers north-east of Erbil city. This study's objective was to determine the water equilibrium based on the climate in Erbil, northern Iraq's Bastora basin, a catchment that was of interest for potential dam building. The meteorological conditions were taken into account by the water balance method based on meteorological data collected between 1995 and 2020 at the Permam metrological site. The average annual rainfall was 597.9 millimeters, and the relative humidity was 52.56 percent. The average amount of water that evaporated each year was 1835 mm, and the average temperature was18.1 Co, wind speed was2.09 m/sec, and amount of sunshine each day were 8.2 hours. The Kharrufa method was used to find out if evapotranspiration was happening and to find out when it was deficit and surplus. The results show that there is a total potential evaporation of 1836.4 mm/year, a surplus of 301.26 mm, and a shortage of 1539.41 mm. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) is used to calculated runoff, which is 174 mm per year. The yearly recharge rate for the Bastora Basin was determined to be 3.08 x 105 m3/year, while the water surplus is 50.39 percent of the annual rainfall. Unep, Mather, and Al-Kubaisi classifications were among those utilized to determine the basin's climatic kind. According to the results of these approaches, the sequences of climatic classification in the region are found to be semi-arid, dry, and humid to moist